The Meaning of Immortality (10 year anniversary story PART THREE)

 Previously called Reunited, i changed it becasue the last sentence hit me hard on the edit. It also links onto another extra I'll be uploading with Clara.

La Push, 2220

Bella

La Push had barely changed. At least not the centre of it. The houses were rebuilt over the years, still made from the wood of the surrounding forest, painted in reds and whites and greys. But it all felt the same. The smell was still the same, the smell of rust and saltwater and forest. Forks wasn’t the same at all. It was unrecognisable now and I held little to no attachment to it, but la push. La Push was home. The only difference was it was smaller now with sea corrosion gently pushing back the coastline but all in all. It was still La Push. We crossed the boundary in the car, and it was moments before a handful of wolves appeared. Edward slammed on the breaks, overriding the automated system. The wolves were growling, and I frowned at the sight. They knew we were coming, why were they acting like we were strangers?

Edward stepped out raising his hands.

“My name is Edward Cullen, my wife, brother, sister, daughter and son in law are in the car. We informed your alpha, Chartelle Black, we were coming. She’s our granddaughter.” He announced. There was a pause as he waited for their reply.

“yes, Renesmee is my daughter.” Edward said and the wolves seemed to visibly relax. I saw Edward smile and turned back to get in the car.

“everything okay?” Rose asked him.

“It is now. Bella you might want to get out a second,” He said with a happy smile as another much much larger wolf appeared. The wolf phased, hiding herself behind one of the wolves for a moment and pulling on a sun dress quickly. I smiled widely at the sight of Chartelle. I opened the door and she ran into me, colliding in a hug.

“hi grandma” she whispered.

“hey baby.” I said holding her tightly. “your wolves were about to murder us” I joked.

“I’m sorry, my beta changed the patrol schedule and forgot to inform the baby wolves you were arriving” she explained and pulled away.

“scatter! Everything’s fine” she called to her pack and the 3 small wolves all nodded to their alpha and took off running. I pulled Chartelle into the car with me as we made our way through the outer boundary of la push and into the town. The large house just out of the centre was Renesmee and Jacobs. It had stood for over two hundred years and was the oldest building in the whole reservation. They had raised every one of their children in it. I felt a wave of nostalgia hit at the sight of it.

“I’ll be back later, I have to go do something, but I am so happy you guys are staying for the summer” Chartelle said, giving her grandfather a hug. She waved to us as she took off running down the street.

“she’s like Jacob but a girl.” Rose said with a wistful smile.

“I forget sometimes you don’t know Renesmee’s younger children very well.” I smiled to her.

“something I want to change whilst we’re here.” She said grabbing her bag from the car. Each of us grabbed one as we made our way to Nessie and Jacobs house. The door swung open at our arrival and I just stopped to smile.

Renesmee.

My beautiful, beautiful first-born daughter. The woman that made me a mother, that started the Cullen line. It had been far too long since I had seen her.

I was over to her in a flash, she had barely blinked before her angel face grinned at me. I dropped my bag and lifted her into a hug. I span her around as I held her tightly against me.

“hi momma” she whispered into my shoulder. I put her down and held her tighter. “momma I can’t breathe” she joked, and I laughed, loosening my grip but not enough to let her go.

“I missed you little nudger” I whispered, emotion overcoming me.

“me too” she said through a whimper. I pulled away to hold her face in my hands. Tears fell from her eyes and I reached to kiss them away.

“you act like you haven’t seen each other in two hundred years, it’s been 13months” Edward said coming up to us.

“daddy!” she squealed like a little girl and jumped into his arms. He couldn’t stop the grin appearing on his face as he wrapped his arms around his little girl.

“Hey Bells” the rustic voice of my lifetime best friend filled the room and I turned to see him, arms crossed over his chest, leaning against the entry way. I grinned widely and his face matched mine in response. His arms uncrossed, opening in invitation. I couldn’t contain my excitement as I ran to him. He lifted me up and span me around in our embrace before putting me back on my feet.

“hey puppy” rose said from the door.

“hey blondie” he grinned back, and he moved to hug her. Rose replaced me in a hug with Jacob and I couldn’t help but smile at them.

Nessie had made her way through the guests and held her sister tight.

“where’s your grandmother?” she asked ben.

“they’re taking a flight tomorrow. My grandfather had to tie a few things up” he responded to his aunt and she sighed.

“of course, he did” she said shaking her head. I heard a vampire approaching fast and turned to the door to see who it was.

“mom!” Beth squealed heading straight for me. I smiled as we embraced, and Edward tutted behind us.

“why am I always second?” he mused, and Beth pealed herself away to hug her dad.

“because you didn’t give birth to them” I teased him.

“I contributed to their creation!” he moaned pulling away with a smile to his youngest daughter. She giggled and turned to hug her sister. Lexi and Beth squealed as they hugged, dancing around in their embrace in excitement.

“are you sure you want to house us all for three months Nessie?” I asked my daughter who was smiling wistfully at her sister’s reunion.

“are you kidding? What’s the point of still having this house if we don’t do stuff like this anymore? It’s been decades since we hosted anyone. I’m so excited to have all my siblings in one house. We’ve never had both sets of our generation living under one roof.” She said referring to herself, Eddie and Chantelle as one set and Lexi and Beth as the other.

“it’s going to be so much fun!” Beth grinned and turned to pull Nessie into her side, each of her sisters on either side.

“where is your brother?” I asked them all.

“he has to make an entrance of course. He and Chloe went to go see Seattle. They’ll be back later.” Nessie rolled her eyes.

“and you’re staying here with us? Even though you live down the road?” Rose asked Beth.

“I mean yeah, Kai is staying at our house, so I’ll probably stay with him a some nights but three months living with my siblings and parents under one roof? Why would I miss that?” she grinned at her aunt. Rose shrugged.

“fair enough”

“I might go stay with him” ben joked eying his wife.

“you can stay wherever you want. You know where I’ll be” she grinned at her husband leaning into her sister at her side for a moment.

“You’re more than welcome too Ben, I think Kai would honestly enjoy the company” Beth offered with a genuine smile.

“I have a room set up for each of you. Even those that don’t sleep, so you can at least escape when you want to. I also have a surprise for you mom” Nessie said pulling away from her sisters for a moment and reaching in her pocket she took her father’s hand and pulled him towards me. She reached for mine and put it over her fathers, then dropped a key into my hand. We both looked down then back at her. Keys hadn’t been used for locks in centuries. Everything was technology now.

“it’s your cottage. Jacob has been spending the last few months restoring it. It’s exactly how it was two hundred and fifty years ago. Minus my childhood room of course” she smiled up at me and I was shocked. That cottage had disintegrated a century ago. The stone frame still stood in the place of what it used to be, but the wooden supports and the roof fell in after we moved away.

“are you kidding?” I asked her, turning to look at Jacob who had a smug expression on his face.

“I mean I can’t remember it, not really. I don’t have the luxury of perfect memory, but I tried my best, with Renesmee’s help.” He said. “I couldn’t get a few things, but I think it’s close enough.” He said with a shrug.

“thank you” I said sincerely and reached to hug him. Edward did the same after.

“this is amazing, thank you Jake” he said, and Jacob smiled at his best friend.

“all good. It was a nice little project really” he said nonchalantly.

“it must have taken a lot of time and patience” Edward said.

“consider it birthday Christmas and anniversary presents from the last hundred years” Jacob joked. I smiled at him. Our family, being as old as it was rarely gave presents to each other anymore. Not unless they were special things like this.

“you can go see it later, for now, let’s get everyone in and I can show you your rooms.” Nessie said ushering everyone inside.

WE spent the next hour or so settling in and unpacking. Whilst Edward and I loved the idea of our cottage, we were still going to live with Nessie where all our children were under the same roof. We just had a cottage to go and escape to whenever we wanted. Just like back when Nessie was little.

“the prodigal son has returned!” I heard Eddie’s voice radiate through the house. Both Edward and I stopped what we were doing and looked at each other with a grin.

I headed out the door and down the stairs to the arms of my waiting son.

I suddenly felt whole again at the sight of him. All four of my children stood in front of me embracing and I never knew I could feel so complete than I did in that moment.

Everyone settled down after the welcomes and greetings and all converged to the large sitting area.

MY children began to discuss their memories of mine and Edward’s various parenting techniques and started to laugh at their joint experiences. I sat there on Edwards lap taking in all their praise and criticism honestly interested in what they thought of their childhoods now they were all fully grown adults.

Edward stroked my arm for a moment, and I knew this was a gesture for me to follow his gaze. After several hundred years with a person you begin to have a silent language. A series of touches and looks that mean a certain thing only to the other person. I watched as Jacob escaped the room, something about him was off. I left my husband’s lap and followed my old friend out to his back yard.

“hey Jakey” I smiled and sat next to him on the porch. He had a beer in his hand as he stared into the garden.

“hey bells” he said softly.

“are you okay?” I asked.

“it’s funny. Seeing Renesmee with her siblings, seeing how young they make her, I almost forgot what she was like as a sister” he said with a small chuckle. I smiled back at him, resting my head on his bicep as we both stared into the ocean off the back of their home. The beach never used to be there, not when this house was built centuries ago, but it was now. A few more hundred years and the house would be in the sea. “I forget a lot of things.” He said very, very quietly.

“what do you mean?” I asked him for clarification before I started to panic over the things he was saying.

“I don’t think I was supposed to live this long Bella. Humans aren’t meant to live this long” he whispered. I lifted my head to look at his face to check he was being serious. He definitely was. His eyes were sort of glazed over as if he was thinking about something long ago.

“you’re immortal Jake. You’re not human.” I argued with him. “are you okay? Are you not well? Do you need to see Carlisle?” I asked, panic flooding out of me. He softened, his gaze breaking, and he turned to look at me.

“no Bella, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you. I’m fine, physically. As long as I phase once a week, I’m fine I promise. But my mental capacity is definitely not” he told me sadly.

“do you know I don’t remember what you were like when you were human? I don’t remember my dad’s face, or when my sisters died. I don’t remember what it felt like to hold William the day he was born. I don’t remember what it was like to marry my wife.” He said, his voice cracking at the end.

“Renesmee tries to help me, every day she shows me a memory from our past, to try and keep it in my mind but it’s like watching a movie of someone else’s life. It’s her memory, not mine” he said a tear falling from his eye.

“Jake, I had no idea you were going through this. Why didn’t you call me? Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked him sadly.

“I’m telling you now.” He said softly taking another sip of his drink. “I forget names sometimes. Our old friends. Renesmee had to remind me who Sam Uley was the other day. I couldn’t even remember Sam!” he said with sad anger.

“I’m sorry this is happening to you Jake. Have you asked any of the other wolves? The older ones?” I asked reaching to hug his arm.

“Kai has written a diary every day of his life since he met Beth. He says he often goes back to read them, so the memory thing doesn’t really bother him because most of the time it comes back to him when he reads it. Leah… Leah never even noticed until I asked her. I asked her what time Zac was born and she had no idea, but it didn’t bother her as much. She said it wasn’t like she was losing her memory in present day. It was just old things she couldn’t remember. She has pictures of her family, Seth and her parents. So, she wasn’t bothered as long as she could see them when she wanted.” He explained.

“so, it’s only you that its bothering. What about William?” I asked.

“he hasn’t forgot a thing. His vampire genes must save his memory. I asked Isobel too, she’s the same. They don’t remember things in exact details like a vampire would, or as well as Nessie does. But they remember important memories, how a human would.” He added.

“the only thing I can suggest is talking to Esther. She might be able to help. Even if she doesn’t save your lost memories, maybe she can do something to stop it happening as you get older” I said softly. i saw him nod out of the corner of my eye.

“I thought about asking her, but the first step was admitting it to you.”

“come back with me to Chicago before I go back to school. She’ll be able to do something for you. I’m sure of it” I said with confidence.

We never imagined what time would do to Jacob. He was one of three wolves that have extended their life past normal human expectancy, but he wasn’t the oldest. Leah was. Every time I saw her, she was thriving and still a badass. I never considered what time would do to them, that my best friend was going through something and I had no idea.

“let’s go enjoy our family” I said to him. “you can’t sit out here thinking about memories you can’t remember. Let’s make new ones okay?” I asked him. He turned to look at me at his shoulder. He gave me a forced ‘Jake’ smile and leant forward to kiss my forehead. I stood and offered him my hand. He took it and we walked back into his large house where our family’s laughter was radiating from the communal area.

My heart swelled at the sight of my family lounging and chatting with a movie on in the background.

“are you kidding? Ivy just thinks in your direction and she can melt you!” Lexi argued.

“but it takes a bit of time for her ability to work. Asta’s works instantly!” Eddie playfully argued back with his sister.

“Sorry but Mia would have them both incapacitated before either of them blink” Nessie countered. “you haven’t even seen what my granddaughter can do.”

“we don’t even know what Asta can do fully. She’s a God.” Eddie countered.

“eh, that title is reserved for Ivy I’m afraid” Chloe interjected.

“what’s going on?” I asked Edward who was leaning against the door frame, his arms folded and an amused expression on his face. Jacob was still at my side holding my hand.

“they’re discussing who would win out of the godly trio.” He smirked.

“godly trio! Perfect name dad!” Eddie called out.

“excuse me?” I asked again with a laugh.

“Asta, Ivana and Amirah” Edward clarified turning to look at me. “at full power, all three in a room. Who would win?” he asked raising his eyebrow, clearly curious as to my opinion. Those three were the most powerful creatures probably ever to walk the planet. Next to Esther and her twins of course.

“Asta surely?” I asked him, everyone knew her melt down story. How she had brutally instinctively murdered everyone in a single room the most horrific way possible with the cry of a temper tantrum, and that was before she had any chance to advance or learn the true natures of her ability. He shrugged and turned back to watch our children as they continued to bicker gently between themselves.

“considering we don’t know the full extent of her abilities, maybe. However, Mia is an expert at magic, can withhold more information than any regular witch of her age, including what Asta showed before losing her ability. Combined with the boosting abilities and resilience of a vampire and the anger of a wolf. Then there’s Ivy whose ability grows stronger every second. Who knows?” Edward said with a smirk. “it’s an interesting discussion.”

“well thankfully all three girls are family so there won’t be a way to know for sure.”

“Mia and Ivy clash. They don’t get on at all. Never say never.” Edward mused. My entire body shivered at the thought of those two ever coming at blows with one another. Ivy wasn’t direct family, but she was just as much a Cullen as Mia was. They were both forever interlinked with the Cullen dynasty and shared too many family members to ensure anything between them would be clean.

“they clash because they’re alike. If they found common ground, I think they’d be very good friends.” I said hopeful. I saw similarities in both girls and when that kind of pressure is put on a child, it’s easy to get lost in the smaller picture.

“no way! You can’t merge immortals with Mia, that’s not her power.” Eddie argued.

“but you said full power. Her full power includes siphoning!” Renesmee argued back to her brother.

“let’s agree to disagree. That we can’t justifiably decide, they have us all beat.” Beth, ever the diplomat, settled them down.

“immortals or life and death” Emmett threw into the discussion after the siblings had silenced.

“Annie and Lidy” Eddie said instantly.

“dude, Ax and Lena can literally create an impenetrable protection bubble. Do you think Lidy can break through that when not even Esther can?” Lexi asked her brother.

“dude its literal life and death!” Eddie said completely blinded.

“dude immortals are literally immortal.”

“but they’re not truly immortal, are they? Not even the original immortal witches were truly immortal.”

“if the immortals caught life and death off guard, they could 100% incapacitate them. Alena did it with a spell in her sleep!” Renesmee argued.

“ok if we’re using the off-guard excuse how do the immortals create a protection spell against instant death?” Eddie mused.

“is it even possible to catch Axton or Alena off guard?” Beth asked Renesmee.

“honestly. No not that I’m aware of.”

“shall we agree to disagree that comparing family members is a waste of time?” I asked my children.

“oh, for sure it is, but it’s fun none the less.” Eddie grinned back at me.

“compare those in the room and things will start to get interesting” Emmett joked wiggling his eyebrows at his nephew. Eddie couldn’t ever turn down a challenge. I inwardly sighed.

“oh, what an awesome idea uncle Emmett. Except ill win” he said boastfully.

“woah woah woah kid. Hang on there” Emmett crossed his arms.

“babe, he could squash you like a bug now. He’s two hundred years old.” Rose comforted her husband.

“oh yeah? I don’t think he’s surpassed me yet.” Emmett challenged Eddie, Eddie sat back and laughed.

“bring it on old man, whilst we’re at it, ill race my dad to old forks and back too. I’m faster, stronger and better than everyone in this room and you know it!” he joked.

“careful Eddie, your head is so big it won’t fit through my door frame” Nessie scolded her brother. She knew Eddie was joking in a brotherly way not a mean way, but I definitely knew Nessie didn’t like the size of his ego at that very moment.

“I’m a moon pool vamp sis, I get stronger by the day. In the meantime, these old-time vamps are the same as they were the day we were born.” He reminded her.

“doesn’t mean you need to be an ass about it” Beth joined in scolding her brother. He rolled his eyes and pointed at the door for Emmett to follow him out.

“he only said that to rile your uncle, you know that, right?” Edward asked his daughters after Eddie and Emmett had already left the room.

“boys will be boys” Nessie sighed as she watched her husband follow them out with a excited expression on his face.

“ready kid?” Emmett asked.

“not the table. Nessie will kill you when you break it” Jacob told them, and the boys looked briefly at the wooden table beneath them.

“I mean she can try” Eddie turned to wink at his sister. She narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest.

“okay okay. Any rocks nearby?” Eddie said receiving the death glare from his sister.

“time for déjà vu hey Bella?” Emmett grinned at me as he eyed a boulder from the cliff nearby. He brought it back over and placed it in front of Eddie. I rolled my eyes at Emmett when he lined himself up to arm wrestle my son.

“time to lose to another Swan?” Eddie asked.

“you’re not a swan kid”

“I mean Swan DNA.” He corrected him and took his uncles hand in his.

“3, 2, 1, go!” Jacob shouted initiating the arm wrestle with the look of pure wonder and excitement on his face as he watched the two vampires test their strength.

Any regular person would think the both of them were barely trying. Only us vampires knew that the amount of force between the pair would crush a human skeleton to dust. I knew Eddie was holding back, I could see the grin on his face as he matched Emmett’s force. The rock below them began to splinter slowly, pressure building up. Eddie noticed and decided he had to win now, or Emmett would think it was a draw. He barely strained as he tilted Emmett’s arm down to the boulder, causing it to shatter beneath them.

“damn it!” Emmett bellowed. Eddie grinned at his uncle.

“you stood no chance” Edward called to his brother with a smirk.

“oh yeah? Why don’t you race him?” Emmett asked and Eddie turned to his dad hopeful. Edward sighed but stepped off the porch.

“old forks and back?” he asked him, Eddies face lit up like when he was a child on Christmas morning. I shook my head in disbelief. We all knew Eddie was faster. It was over two decades ago, but one of the traditional Cullen baseball games had ended with Eddie outrunning Edward to the fourth base to catch him out. It was also one of the last with Eddie, not out of cruelty but out of fairness. I didn’t know where Edward was going with this. Did he just want to stroke his son’s ego?

“dad, why are you doing this?” Nessie asked, also disapproving of ego inflating Eddie.

“because my son thinks he’s faster than me and I can’t have that.”

“he just proved he was stronger than Emmett after two hundred years of aging. You really think he can’t beat you?” Nessie asked, she wasn’t around for that baseball game. Edward didn’t answer his daughter. He just turned back to his son.

“GPS. Touch the welcome to forks sign and back here okay?” he asked holding up his phone. Eddie nodded, lifting his own into his hand. Edward turned to Jacob and nodded. Jacob pulled out his phone and linked the GPS’ with one touch so he could watch their routes for cheating.

“3, 2, 1, go!” Jacob roared and the pair shot off. One thing that did shock me, was they started off the same direction, but I saw Edward swerve off in another direction.

“what is dad doing?” Beth asked me. I smirked as I realised the way my husband was going.

“being faster isn’t always about speed Beth. It’s about how smart you are” I winked at her.

“Eddie runs on instinct and ambition. Edward runs on intelligence and knowledge.” Rose said catching onto what I was suggesting. I smiled at my sister and nodded.

“Eddie is faster, but Edward will win.” I said as I leant back on the porch to watch the outcome.

I was right. With a fraction of a second, and I mean 0.04 second lead. Edward entered Renesmee and Jacobs back yard with Eddie on his heels.

“how?!” Eddie yelled “did you cheat?” he asked his dad. Jacob held up his phone to show the tracking information.

“not at all. He just went a better way” Jacob grinned at his friends and high fived Edward.

“the river? What?! I thought we were taking only land-based routes, I didn’t know we could jump the river.” Eddie sighed.

“we never set any rules sunshine. I just used my brain, you didn’t” Edward grinned at his son, pulling him into a side in a hug.

“I’m still faster” Eddie said sadly, pouting his lip.

“faster but not smarter.” Edward teased him ruffling his hair. “that’s something that only comes with age and I will always have a hundred years on you my boy”

“hello, is anyone in?” we heard Chantelle’s voice echo through the house and Renesmee’s face lit up.

“Chanti!” she called as she ran to her through the house. The two girls collided in a hug and I almost thought Renesmee was crying. The pair held onto each other for so long I wasn’t sure they were going to let go.

“you saw each other a month ago” Zio shook his head at the women.

“in Chicago yeah. Not here. Not home. You’re home!” Nessie called out to her cousin squeezing Chanti tighter.

“yeah, things haven’t changed much here have they?” Chanti asked finally pulling away from Nessie to greet the others in the room. I thought she’d go to her parents next, or Eddie but she went straight for Lexi to hug her.

“where is my grandson?” she asked her as she held her tightly.

“staying with Kai at his and Beth’s house. Ben stayed for all of one hour before he decided to bail out of the family festivities” Lexi explained and Chantelle nodded understandingly. Benjamin was never a large family type. He loved his parents and his sisters, but past his grandparents, he never made much of an effort to know anyone. It didn’t surprise me that he took up Beth’s offer to stay with Kai at their house. I was partly glad. I knew my children would be reminiscing about their childhoods, and whilst none of them had perfect childhoods, none of them had ever had to experience what Benjamin had. None of them had lost their sibling as a child, none of them had to lose almost every part of themselves in the process of growing up. I didn’t want my children’s experiences to feel like a slap in the face to him. That man deserved better than that. He wasn’t a stranger to the fact that no other Cullen had to experience what he did, but I also understood why he didn’t want to sit around and listen to it constantly.

Eddie walked over to Zio to greet him but instead of a hug he held his hand out.

“They’re doing fine, Asta and Matthew can handle it. Stop thinking about it and come home to us” he said instantly. Zio sighed handing him his phone and bowing his head.

“Hardest three months of my life coming up” Zio signed

“Pretty sure that’s extremely not true. I remember when a certain granddaughter of yours died. Pretty sure that consisted of the worst three months of your life“ Eddie mused and reached to hug Zio.

“Or when your so-called father treated you like shit for years of your childhood” Nessie said greeting him next.

“I’m sorry Nessie, you’re right. It’s just hard to separate myself from this part of me”

“Which is why I think you and Chanti should come home and do this every year. No joke. It’s not healthy to live your job Zio and you’ve been doing it far too long”

“I know you’re right Nessie.” Zio said softly.

“what? Her you listen to? I’ve been telling you that for years!” Chanti said rather frustrated at her husband, although it wasn’t hostile. She was legitimately happy Zio was listening to someone.

“what can I say? Nessie asks me to do something my childhood self-obeys” he smiled down at Nessie who hugged him to her.

“I feel like you forget sometimes who you are”

“who am i?” zio whispered into her shoulder.

“a Cullen. Not Volturi” she said pulling away from him to grin up at him.

“always” he smiled back.

“okay lets show chanti and zio their room and get some food going?” Jacob asked breaking apart Zio and Nessie to give him a hug.

“sounds good. Youre in Will’s old room.” Nessie smiled at her cousins.

“yes!” Chanti grinned and Nessie rolled her eyes. “best room, not including yours of course” she said to Nessie.

“where are our kids?” Chanti asked following her up the stairs.

“due any moment” Nessie told her taking her to the room. As if on cue Sophia came hurdling through the door. She was in the arms of Zio faster than I could blink.

I saw Edward tilt his head to those congregated in the entry way and most of us head out to give Sophia time with her parents. It wasn’t long before they followed us into the living area. William heading straight for me and Edward perched against the wall. I smiled at my grandson as he hugged us both together.

“how is it you look more like your father every freaking year?” Edward asked as William grinned at us.

“La Push and the love of a good woman?” he asked eying Sophia hugging Rose and Emmett.

“sounds right to me” Edward smiled back.

“mom when is food?” Will called across to Renesmee in deep conversation with Chantelle. She looked up at her son to roll her eyes. “when your siblings get here.” She calls out.

“but have you like… started cooking it yet?” he asked her sceptically.

“its been cooking all day. Don’t worry”

“how many of your kids will we have the pleasure of having tonight? I cant keep track of where they all are anymore” Zio asked.

“Izzy, Chartelle, Emalie, Amalia and Seth. And of course, Jacob 2.0 over there” she said eying Will again. He sent back a big grin to his mother and I couldn’t help but smile.

“Sarah still in Brazil? Where is Lauren now a days?” I heard Zio ask and dropped listening to the conversation to give them some privacy.

I turned to the hallway as the door opened and more of Renesmee’s kids came in. Emalie, Amalia and Seth were next. I gave the girls a big hug and Seth a little wave. He waved back enthusiastically and came over to surprise me with a hug. Seth was an adult now but I still saw him as the little boy. He was the hardest of them all for me to see grown up. I knew it was wrong of me to think that way. He was just like any of her other kids really but I never wanted to upset him. I hated the thought of being the one that caused him a headache.

“hey” I said softly to my grandson and he pulled away to smile down at me.

“good evening grandma bella” he said politely and turned to hug Edward.

“where is izzy?” I asked the girls.

“coming with Chartelle.” Ema explained and I barely had a chance to talk to them before Izzy walked through the door, or should I say, her belly did.

“wait what?!” I squealed at my granddaughter.

“wasn’t planned trust me” she sighed as she came to hug me.

“why didn’t your mom tell me?” I scowled at Renesmee as she walked into the hall.

“because this is a better surprise is it not?” she asked as she greeted her children.

“you finally getting your girl?” I asked izzy carefully.

“yeah I am” she laughed resting her hand on her stomach.

“only took you two hundred years to try again” I laughed.

“as I said. It wasn’t planned” she laughed back waddling into the house.

“I wonder why none of your kids have followed in your footsteps Ness.” Chanti mused to her sister.

“I think most of them just wanted to experience parenthood the once and were done after that. I seem to be the only one that actually craves having children” she replied to her sister.

“I knew id have more eventually.” Izzy said passing us to go sit down.

We spent hours talking together and just spending time with everyone.

My heart felt full and I had almost forgotten about the dilemmas we had experienced the past year with Lexa until Rose decided to bring it up and tell her about her.

“did we do the right thing?” Emmett asked after the story had been told.

“by not telling Lexa? absolutely.” Rose replied.

“I hope nothing goes wrong in the next three years. I hope we can enrich her life and leave it without any complications” he continued

“I think there are going to be complications. But as long as she survives that’s what matters right?” Rose asked.

“is it?” I questioned sombrely.

“she deserves the human life.” Lexi agreed.

“it doesn’t pain you that she’ll never know who you are to her?” Renesmee asked her sister.

“more than anything in the entire world” Lexi said her voice breaking. “but I will also do everything in my power to keep her innocent and out of our world. She deserves that.”

“and what about if she runs into a vampire? Or someone tracks her down to hurt us?” Eddie asked the room.

“the likely hood of that is very slim” Edward countered immediately; I saw him shoot daggers at our son for possibly scaring the women in the room into taking it all back. 

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We spent the next weeks and months successfully avoiding the subject of Lexa but it was as if the universe was purposely on a quest to remind us of our human descendants’ vulnerabilities that summer.

It was just me and Edward in our room one night. We only had a week left here with our family until we returned to Chicago for two weeks before heading back to university. I had it all planned out with Jacob returning with us so Esther could help with his memory. Eddie had assured me she could at least prevent it from happening again. 

The weeks here had been wonderful. It was enchanting to watch my children be children again around each other. To see Zio and Chantelle so carefree. I was sure they had forgotten what it was like until now.

Edward and I were relaxing and laughing about the days events when there was a buzz in my husbands’ pocket. He pulled his phone out and turned to me.

“its Sophie.” Edward frowned opening the message on his phone. His face dropped and I knew my husband well enough to know that he was in pain.

“What-?” I began to ask but leant forward to read the message.

Sophie was our descendant. One of the few of the extended generations we had become close to during the war with Lilim. She had been but a child then. She was now a full-grown adult. She was a humanitarian, doctor and honestly the pride of her generation of the Cullen’s.

Edward, Clara needs you. Elijah is going to die soon. I’m not sure he has very many hours left. Clara made me promise to keep Elijah’s health a secret for a while, but I don’t think I can help her through this alone. This isn’t something the Life and Death twins can fix. It’s just time. She’s going to need you. We need you grandpa. Please come as soon as possible.

Love Sophie.

Edward sat motionless for a moment and I took his phone from him to send a quick ‘We’re on our way’ reply to Sophie.

I reached for his hand.

“we can do this Edward. We were waiting for this. We need to be there for Clara.” I coaxed him. He shook out of his trance and he smiled to me sadly. Elijah had chosen to grow and die of old age rather than become immortal. Something Clara had gracefully understood early on. I admired her strength because i couldnt fathom the idea of watching Edward grow old and die without me.

“I know. I just… its easy to forget. Mortality. Real human mortality. Its so easy to forget” he whispered.

“it is.” I agreed and stood. “lets tell the others and lets head home. I am sad to cut our vacation short but Clara needs us now more than ever.” I said and he followed me down the stairs to inform our waiting family.

I wasn’t sure how we were going to do this. It wasn’t often humans close to use died and the last one had been centuries ago but I knew we had to be there for those we loved. For Clara. This was the meaning of immortality.

Love.