Recognition flooded through me the moment I stepped onto the platform of the dark, quiet room; the cream upon white floor coverings and furniture playing the strings of reverie in my mind. The still objects stood covered, the thick dust particles danced before my eyes like the undisturbed snow of a new winter’s day. My eyes silently ran over every surface searching for some mark of change. I registered the sound of my own breath exhaling. “I’m home,” I whispered aloud.

 A red light flashed on the control panel of the wall, a digital voice booming loudly throughout the empty hallway. “Voice identification please,” it demanded, the alarm system reacting to my words, its infrared scanners visible, sweeping the premises. Unable to detect a human temperature coming from my body, it was caught unaware of someone standing in the foyer. “Bella Cullen,” I said quietly. “Voice identification confirmed,” the computer replied, “Mode?”  

 “Full disarm. Open for residence.”

 The lights came on in unison, illuminating the staircase of the main room, as the steel shudders covering the walls of glass retracted with the grind of rigid moving metal. The refracted rays of the cloudy morning streamed around the withdrawing shields, making the Forks house came alive.

 “Mom?” Renesmee’s voice echoed behind me. Glancing over my shoulder she immediately appeared at my side. Inches taller than me, bronze colored curls rolling down her back and forever twenty-one years old, my baby has long since looked more like my peer than my only child.  From the vicinity alone, Renesmee’s childhood memories began to project in my mind, the unchanging faces playing with her in the open, bright space. Taking her hand in mine, the images sharpened tenfold, her gift transmitting stronger when I touched her, allowing me to share her perceptions as clearly as if they were my own. After a few moments of the connection, Renesmee let go of my hand and gingerly moved to gaze around in wonder.

 Her reflections continued to play as she drifted past me, every aspect in the open room sparking another vision from her past.

 I walked away to the staircase, resting my hand on the banister, leaving the imprint of my palm in the dust. In the distance I heard several cars pull into the driveway and the remote hum of familiar voices.

 “I will be upstairs,” I said in a tone no louder than one used in casual conversation.

 “Okay, Mom,” Renesmee called back to me, her voice slightly muffled by the sound of the cloth tarps being pulled off the veiled furniture.

 I ascended the stairs slowly. The timeworn walls showed the outlines of where unique pieces of art once hung, elegant and distinct, as was everything Esme touched.

 The first floor stretched out unchanged, and I paused before opening the last door. The office was wide and empty, sterile besides the buildup of dust. Although no furniture remained, I clearly envisioned the gurney that was my pyre and the frantic, fluttering sound of my baby’s heart. My mind rolled over the memories; the perfect and the painful. I looked back through the years, beginning with the traumatic birth of our daughter and the burning pain of my transformation. I awoke to a new life. Renesmee grew up in just seven human years, and we left Forks.

 Jacob remained with us throughout our time in Alaska, North Dakota, Maine and New York. As time had dissolved the threats we faced, Jacob’s pack longed to return to La Push. Still deeply loyal to their alpha, to Jacob, Leah returned home after guarding our family for thirty years, followed by Seth ten years later. It hurt Jacob to let them go, but it was their choice, as it was his to spend an eternity with Renesmee. The choice required sacrifice; the surrender of a human existence in exchange for an immortal one. As long as Jacob remained in the presence of vampires, he would never age.

 We attended school in groups, formulating different stories and scenarios; playing the roles of cousins, siblings and new friends. While Jacob and Renesmee took college courses during the day, Edward and I took night classes at Dartmouth.

 Renesmee and Jake grew close in the absence of his pack; her maturity was always beyond her years, and we lived separately from each other for a short time in order to scout out our next residence. Between Edward’s evaluations of Jacob’s mind and my conversations with Renesmee, we never imagined what would happen. The shock came when I returned home one night....

 Emmett and Japser restrained Edward as he struggled to lunge at Jacob. Jake held a guarded stance in front of Nessie, remorse etched painfully on his face.

 “I trusted you!” My husband wrestled against Emmett’s iron clad grip. “What were you thinking?!” Edward bellowed, as Jasper shifted all his strength to hold him back.

 “What’s going on?” I gasped, taking in the scene.

 “I’m sorry, Mom,” Nessie said, shaking her head in despair.

 “What’s wrong?” I stepped towards her and Jacob released his hold, a pained expression holding his face. From the corner of my eye I saw Edward flail and Jasper’s eyes narrow in difficult concentration, trying to temper the emotions raging in the small room. I pulled Renesmee into my arms, and the contact of her skin to mine made the conduit to which I could see everything. Her and Jacob, spending time together, talking… and making love. The vision quickly shifted to the consequences of that action.

 “You’re pregnant.” I felt all the air expel from my lungs as I uttered the words. I staggered my knees buckling, unable to keep my balance for once in my existance as a vampire.

 “Mom…mom!” Renesmee cried.

 I was breathless. Shocked, I turned to Edward for help. His body pinned, Edward’s jaw was a taut line, his furious expression throwing daggers at Jacob. I looked back at my panicked daughter, a steady stream of tears flowing down her face.

 “Oh God, Edward,” I said in a hushed whisper. “What do we do…?”

 I shivered as the memory continued. I watched my baby lay on a gurney in the re-created operating room--the same place that I once lay having her. Jacob stood at the far side of the room, his arms crossed, his body tense with anxiety. He stood, visibly in pain, uncertain of the future. Alice sat on one side of the bed, holding Nessie’s hand.

 “Can you see anything, Alice?” Jacob asked, it sounded like a plea. Alice gently rubbed Nessie’s hand and just shook her head.

 “All we can do is trust.” Her voice was monotone and sad, her eyes faraway.  

 “Trust in what?” Jacob replied, a bitter tone in his voice.

 “Trust in the people around you,” she replied. Her expression was not lost in one of her visions, it was wondering around, blind. Jacob was silent then. I held the back of Renesmee’s hand to my cheek.

 I smiled down into her fearful eyes. “This would not have happened if it weren’t meant to be,” I stroked her hair away from her face.

  When it was done, I stepped out, shutting the door behind me, to where Edward stood waiting in the hallway. His eyes bore into mine, panicked. I took his both his hands in mine, and at that moment the pitched sound of a baby’s cry rang out. Edward stared at me incredulously.

 I beamed up at him. “Charles William Black.”

 The dust fluttered in the air when I exhaled. Suddenly the comforting scent of lilac and sunshine became enveloping as Edward stepped up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist. He leaned down to rest his chin on my shoulder.         

 “A penny for your thoughts?”

 I leaned back into security of his body, at the same time effortlessly pushing away the elastic shield guarding my mind. For several moments we stood together in silence, just sharing the revolving impressions.

 “I promised that I would ask you,” my voice quiet as a whisper.

 “100 years ago today,” he murmured in my ear.

 “Yes,” I said simply, a little breathless.

 “Do you have any regrets?” His voice was serious. I felt Edward’s body stiffen beside me as my thoughts shuffled, revealing the memories. The pleasure... the pain ...the fear.

The memory floated back to me before I could stop it...

 “Aro will see you now.” Alec ushered us forward, through the eerily familiar, thick wooden door….

 “How like its mother is it?” Aro’s pretense faded, and the fear at his words gripped me.  

 “He is not a threat—” My voice whipped out fiercer than I had wanted it to. Everyone in the room turned to look at me, a range of expressions staring back at me. I struggled to soften my tone, to sound informative rather than defensive.

 “That has yet to be determined.” Aro cut me off coolly and glided back towards his guard; the corner of Jane’s mouth turned up in a malicious grin. I knew Aro would want proof, so I decided to offer it.

 “I could show you,” I said loudly, lifting my right hand solidly out in front of me. He wouldn’t resist the chance to read the one mind that, until now, had eluded him. Unwavering, I took one step forward, my hand still outstretched. The expression of the guard turned watchful, skeptical that this was a trick.

 I took another step forward, physically making one last call to my offer. Aro’s posture straightened and he approached me slowly in acceptance, raising his frail-looking hands to mine. We stopped a foot away from one another, his filmy eyes expectant.

 “May I?” Aro asked.  I stared down at his aged, immortal hands about to make contact. I reluctantly released my shield for its encasement of Edward and Carlisle. It snapped forward, pulsating around me, before I purposely forced it back. I peeled slowly away from my body, commanding it to drape behind me.

 “Now,” I said.

 Edward breathed heavily, holding me tighter in his arms as he shared the repulsion I felt. The compromise made that day. My memories then shifted, turning into a myriad of thoughts: the love of our daughter, joy of our grandchildren and the bond of our family. Instinctively, the permeating feelings of love turned instantaneously to fear–fear of rogue vampires like Victoria and the enforcers, the Volturi; the constant threat they were to the ones I loved. Edward held me in his arms, his cheek in my neck.

 The hillside curved out vast and green in the mountains of New York State. Charlie was taller than Edward now and becoming faster at phasing than Jacob. An image of his father with his straight black hair, cropped short against his russet skin, his warm brown eyes. But when he smiled at me, those eyes would crinkle at the edges and then I knew was looking at my father -- his namesake. I got to keep that part of him forever. In the distance, Charlie practiced with Jasper; learning dodging techniques allegedly needed to aide him in his school sports. I was sure that Jasper was teaching grittier him stuff than that.

 In a flash, Charlie had Jasper pinned to the ground, his uncle laughing with pride. Jasper had changed so much since I first met him. Less reserved, his ability to feel had carried our family through many hard times. The happy emotional climate of our group became Jasper’s moral compass, and his craving for human blood diminished over the years. His empathy and control now compared to Carlisle’s.

 In the valley that rolled out before me, I watched Nessie outstretched on the grass. Emmett and Rosalie ran playfully in front of her with the newest addition to the Black family. Emma Rose was named after her aunt and uncle, her black curls a mix of her mother and her father, but a complete image of her Uncle Emmett. Her emerald green eyes, Edward’s eyes, once thought as lost, were a surprising and beautiful tribute to her grandfather. They were forever preserved in her heart-shaped face. Rosalie paused, as she caught me watching them, and beamed a smile at me. Although they were not of her body, Rosalie’s love for Renesmee and the children granted her most heartfelt wish–to sit with Emmett, surrounded by their grandchildren.

 Rose turned to playfully restart the game of chase, and Emma ran squealing with delighted laughter. Jacob approached me as I gazed at them with pride.

 “Seth is gathering the tribe next week. We will discuss everything with the new pack,” Jacob said sagely; the carefree boy I once knew had matured in a remarkable man.

 “Does he want us to be there too?” I turned t face him, concerned.

 “Maybe one of you. You should go, Bella. I know Seth would love to see you. And apparently there are a few members of the tribe who we both want to meet.”

 “Who?” I couldn’t resist asking.

 “Sam Uley III and Eli Call,” Jacob said a smile deep in his voice.

 “Sam’s grandson, and who is….”

 “Leah’s grandson.” I gasped and stared at Jacob. “Remember Embry and Kim?”

 I nodded.

 “Their son and Leah, when she returned to La Push. Seth said that it was first double-imprinting he’d ever witnessed.”

 I couldn’t contain my grin. “Leah and their son?”

 “Yeah, Leah and Gabriel Call. You know any offspring of those two… I’m surprised the kid didn’t phase at birth.” Jacob gave a throaty laugh.

 “Jacob, those kids…” my voice trailed off.

 I longed to see Seth, but was fearful of my reaction to him. A seventy eight year-old man, Seth stood as revered elder, the leader of the Quileute tribe – well, until now. Now Jacob Black was returning – the vampires were returning, and a new generation of Quileute wolves are unexpectedly about to be born.

 “I’m scared, Jacob.”

 “Scared of what–the wolves? Don’t be ridiculous—” Jacob started.

 “It’s not fair to them. It’s like they have no choice.” I looked at my innocent family, knowing what chaos our very presence was about to inflict on the equally innocent children of La Push.

 “It is their destiny, Bella. They will rise up to it the way our generation did…” Jacob’s face turned solemn at the thought. Seth was the sole remaining member of his pack. “And they have someone to guide them, to lead them.”

 I smiled as I turned back to watching my family. “Chief Jacob.” I bowed.

“Oh, please,” Jacob grunted, and then his body became suddenly stiff, his nostrils flared. “Volturi,” the word hissed from his throat. My head popped up in alarm.

 My eyes frantically searched the clearing. On the outskirts of the hill, I caught the sight of three cloaked figures.  The trio unabashedly glared at our assembly, their gaze focused on Emma as she played. I hissed.  Edward was beside me then and Emmett stood up from place in the grass, his weighted stance squared directly behind my granddaughter.  I could see Felix’s harsh expression as he caught sight of Emmett, as my hulking brother just smiled back at him in anticipation.

 “Their orders are to observe,” Edward finally spoke. “Nothing more.”

 After several terrifying minutes the three turned to leave. Gianna following the first two, her beauty eternal, as I caught glimpse of her red eyes from inside the dark of her hood. Their movement disappeared into the woods and I turned to embrace Edward.

 “It’s okay, Love,” he whispered. “They see that she is growing. They are bound to our agreement.”

The dust of room swirled in front me as the thoughts continued to come to me in a quick succession. It was my life--our life. He held me tight, and I leaned my head to rest against his cheek.

 I remembered my father’s funeral; I stood at a distance beyond the trees, forever immortalized at 18, and unable to shed tears too express the shuttering pain I felt. Friends walked past his coffin, viewing his face for the last time and I, his only family, was no where to be seen. Renee, three years later, Phil two years after that, followed by the heartbreaking succession of Billy, Sue, Sam, Emily, Jared, Quil, Embry and, my lip quivered, and Leah. Edward exhaled painfully at the reflection.

 I put my hand over his, still holding my waist securely. The glimmer of my engagement ring caught the fractions of light coming through the wall of blurred, aged glass. A century later, it still sparkled brilliantly. I recognized one facet for every blessed experience; a glow for every choice that came to hold the meaning of my existence.

 “I would do it all again.”  I sighed, a smile fervent in my voice as I looked down at our intertwined fingers. Edward’s eyes followed my gaze, running his pale thumb over the stones that held a permanent place on my left hand, and in my heart.

 “I love you,” he said in the velvet voice I knew as well as my own. “Every single day of forever,” he quoted the words he had said to me in this very room, more than a century ago. I pulled at his arm, leading him around my body, facing me. I looked up at him, immersed in the eyes of my husband and eternal love.          

 “You are my soul,” I said as he gazed back at me wordlessly, lost in emotions that my quiet mind could not justify, although my thoughts were still open to him. Several minutes passed.

 “Happy Anniversary,” he finally whispered.

 And then he kissed me. The connection sent sparks through my body and bliss through my mind. After so many years, the way we felt to one another had not changed. It was a kiss that felt like the first and for all the changes, trials and to my great joy, it would never be our last.