Whoever said enjoy peace and quiet while you could, didn’t know the half of it. So the day started off like any other. Our family was hanging outside; the weather was warm and sunny so we were staying close to home. No need to sparkle in public. We were in the backyard. Esme and Rosalie were planting the garden. I was sitting on the porch reading a book. Alice, Jasper, Emmett, Seth, and Jacob were playing cards. Leah and Bella were putting a giant puzzle together on the grass. Nessie was walking around doing random cartwheels with Edward teaching her how.

          Soon, the Watchers joined us. Corin and Amy joined Bella and Leah on the grass with the puzzle. Peter and Keith joined the game of cards. Rogue sat down to watch Rose and Esme plant the garden, while Alexander sat a little ways away and from the looks of it was sketching Rogue and the other two with our new garden. Suddenly, Leah, Seth, and Jacob perked up and without warning bolted toward the woods and phased on the fly while the rest of us looked startled and confused. Edward was the one who spoke:

“They picked up some sort of scent that was unfamiliar to them. I have no idea what it is either.”

“Do you think there’s any danger?” Nessie asked worriedly.

“I think we’re fine for now.” Edward reassured her.

We went back to our own preoccupations except Nessie who sat next to her mother and Edward who came to sit next to me and peered around the backyard every so often. The calm didn’t last. Not even 5 minutes passed since the wolves took off as we noticed Maria emerge from the forest on the far edge of our backyard. Something was off about her. She started to walk forward, than started to run toward us. That got Rogue, Amy, and Corin’s attention. All three got up instantly and looked at her with concern. As she neared, we could see tears streaming down her face and it was filled with fright. At this point, she stumbled and started to fall; Alexander caught her before she hit the ground. I’d never seen a Watcher stumble or fall for that matter.

Maria continued to sob as not even a second passed when Rogue and the others reached her. Before Rogue could ask, Maria blurted it out:

“It’s Michelle! She’s hurt! Something bit her! All but took her leg off! Please come! She needs help!! John is with her.”

I instantly thought to the mysterious scent the wolves smelled. Could all this be tied together? It’s too much of a coincidence. As soon as Maria said what she said, Keith scooped her up as we doubted she could fly on her own or maneuver in any way. She pointed the way and Rogue took off in a blur so fast that even with a vampire’s keen sense of sight, I missed it, followed closely by Keith holding Maria, Amy, Corin, and Alexander. The rest of us glanced briefly at each other and took off running after them. Because Maria had to show us where Michelle and John were, Rogue slowed down enough to let them go first. Otherwise, she was still just a blur of white and blue that represented her shirt and jeans.

It wasn’t long before we reached where Michelle was lying on the ground with her father hovering over her shaking and looking quite concerned. Keith put Maria down who ran to her daughter still sobbing. Nessie who had caught up with the rest of us was the next one by Michelle’s side.

“Oh my gosh! Michelle! Are you alright? Can you hear me? Please talk to me!”

Nessie was almost crying herself as Michelle moaned and continued to lay in a fetal position. Just then we heard sounds of the wolves racing to join us. Before they appeared, they phased back to human form and walked over to us looking shocked by the site in front of them. Amy crouched over our injured friend.

“Michelle, honey, please show us where you were bitten. Please. I know it hurts but we need to see so we know how to treat you.” Amy said soothingly.

“Owwwwwwwww! It hurts so much!!!!!” Michelle was moaning as tears streamed down her face.

“Wait a minute; I thought Watchers were immune to any kind of injury? I’m confused.” Jacob said puzzled.

“Watchers are immune. Michelle is a Junior Watcher which makes her susceptible to injuries. This is why we only have 1,000 of them in the world.” Corin explained.

Everyone nodded, and then turned their attention back to Michelle, who by then had turned enough for Amy to see her injury. I was crouching next to her as well. Even though I had no idea how to treat Watchers, I was still a doctor and maybe could help in some way.

When we saw the bite, we all gasped; especially the Watchers. They looked at each other in horror. The bite was massive, from Michelle’s hip almost to her knee. A chunk of flesh was hanging loose. She was losing blood. Though not at the speed of a regular human. That part of her immortality was saving her from bleeding out in seconds. The print of the bite looked like massive jaws had gotten a hold of her.

“That’s way too large to be a vampire bite or any regular animal.” I said.

“It’s not a vampire bite nor anything else of that nature.” Amy said shakily.

“Well it wasn’t any of us.” Seth muttered, meaning the wolves.

“We know that.” Keith said slowly. It seemed that all of the blood had drained out of the Watchers’ faces. They knew. They knew who or what was responsible.

“What is it then?” Nessie asked for all of us.

There was a long beat of silence. We all waited. It was Alexander that spoke:

“It was one of the Children of the Moon. Some sort of hybrid that could turn in the sun as much as the moon. We’ve seen very little of them. They’re very rare.”

“The Children of the Moon?!”  Maria gasped horrified.

Just then, the ground under our feet started to shake; first a little bit and then violent enough to where none of us could stand without grabbing a hold of something. The wind picked up as well, the sun disappeared behind clouds that came out of nowhere.

“What’s happening?????!!!” Nessie yelled over the howling wind.

Then Amy gasped and her eyes got wide as saucers, her mouth dropped open. She was looking away from Michelle in a different direction. When we all looked in the direction she was, what we saw sent Goosebumps up the arms of even the vampires barely being able to stand as the ground continued to shake. The other Watchers’ reactions soon mirrored Amy’s. The biggest transformation was of the person standing not a great distance away. She was up in the air, her clothes had changed in the blink of an eye; she was now wearing a leather one piece suit, shitkickers, and a trench coat. But it was her eyes that had everyone as Jacob would say “scared shitless”. The crystal clear blue was gone; instead her eyes were bright orange with red edges. Almost spitting fire out of them.

Instead of the Rogue we knew, there, 3 feet off the ground, was a DEMON….

To be continued……

          So it seems like we’ve gone back to having quiet times around Hanover as well as around our house. We like times like that. When there isn’t any drama or something bad happening. Charlie and Sue stayed with us for 4 days total. They spent most of the time with their children. The Watchers had been keeping to themselves and doing lord knows what. The only ones that had any contact with the Watchers were Seth and Leah as they had imprinted. Charlie got a chance to really spend time with Bella and Nessie because the former was done with her first year at Dartmouth. Even without Edward’s help, she finished her freshman year with a 3.8 GPA.

          Charlie was very proud of her for that; we all were. I wasn’t worried about Edward, Rose, or Emmett’s grades as they’ve already been to college multiple times. Emmett was happy with his 3.1 GPA and Bella got to tease him about how they should make a bet for next year to see who can get the highest one. Whoever wins gets bragging rights for the rest of the summer. Everyone except Rose for obvious reasons had their money on Bella. Nessie wasn’t far off. Even with Esme teaching as opposed to a real classroom, Nessie was pulling in all A’s in every class. Michelle was following close behind but there wasn’t a competition with them. After all, Michelle has gone to high school many times over her 500 years as a Watcher and it was Nessie’s first time.

          Nessie wanted to get into Dartmouth as well; she figured we would still be living here 3 years from now. She had time to look around for schools because she was only finishing her freshman year in high school after all. Out of the wolves, Seth had the highest grades. Leah wasn’t doing too badly either with only 3 C’s on her last report card. Jacob was the only one slacking off. But Nessie has taken it upon herself to make sure his grades improve. His argument? He had eternity to do well in high school. Her response?

“You want to join me in college, don’t you? Or should I just go alone?”

He couldn’t argue with that one. There was no way in hell he would let her go off to college alone, especially with his jealousy streak. Corin and Keith were waiting for Seth and Leah to graduate from high school in order to join them in college. They’d both been to colleges around the world but it would be much more fun to go with their significant others now that they had them. Jasper and Alice have decided not to go back to school so when people at the hospital ask what they do for a living, I always say that they are in finance and that their jobs require them to travel a lot. Both know more than enough on the subject that if questioned, could have an intelligent discussion on everything from hedge funds to the stock market. Jasper is well versed in current events especially politics and Alice is a whizz with the stocks. I mean how do you think we ended up with as much money as we have?

New Hampshire recently did a census on richest residents in the state. Our family was at #2 and that was the tip of the iceberg, but the humans didn’t know that. If they knew the real amount of our fortune, we’d probably rank one of the richest families in the world let alone the state. But who’s counting? We’re not. For us money is part of immortality. We need to be able to move around the world ever 5 to 7 years and with our ever growing family, money is a huge part of that. Recently, Alice and Amy sat down to discuss finances and from what Alice had gathered, the Watchers aren’t poor either. In fact and though Amy didn’t go into full detail, Alice figured out that their fortune is larger than ours. That’s understandable, considering they’ve been around for something like 3,000 years.

For us that’s not the most important thing. As long as everyone is healthy, happy, and safe; that’s the most crucial thing. Now with the Volturi gone permanently, we don’t have to worry about walking on eggshells with Aro’s as Jacob calls it “bullshit”. The Watchers are on our side and there are enough of them to make sure all of the vampires of the world behave. I kind of don’t even want to imagine what would happen if the vampires don’t. I remember…..we all remember what happened to the Volturi and how it happened. We’ve also witnessed a lot though nowhere near all of the powers the Watchers possess.

Speaking of which, before Charlie and Sue left for home, Rogue and Alexander showed them how they flew around, while we vampires and wolves respectively showed them how we run. I know that Sue already knew the wolves’ way of transportation but she thought it was really neat about the other two ways. Both however, said that flying was their favorite. We didn’t take offense as we also agreed with them. I wish vampires could fly. But running is fun too; as are jumping and leaping.

The other thing we showed our human visitors was how we sparkle in the sun. Charlie was the most amazed by that. He wanted Bella to show him which she did. It was really interesting to see that Bella was still apprehensive about showing Charlie different aspects of her new self. She was still waiting for the other shoe to drop and for him to not accept her. Finally, because Charlie felt something was off, he took her by the arm and led her away from us to have a one on one conversation. He wanted her to understand once and for all that he accepted her. And he thought she was really beautiful when she sparkled. He did say us male vampires sparkling was creepy but women were beautiful. To which Emmett grumbled:

“Whatever blows your skirt up.”

He was instantly chided by Esme for being rude. Charlie just waved at him like it didn’t matter. Emmett was sometimes like a giant child. So finally Charlie and Sue were ready to leave. Bella and Leah drove them to the airport. With another round of hugs and well wishes, they were off back to the west coast and to where they belonged. After waving them off, Bella and Leah got back into the car. Both were quiet. They were never particularly close but Leah has been trying. So she decided to talk to Bella now while they were alone.

“Hey Bella?”

“Yeah?”

“Listen…..um…..I’m sorry.”

“What for? You don’t have to apologize for anything.”

“Yeah I do. I was always rude to you. And you didn’t deserve that, you were always nice to me. Even when you were human. You didn’t do anything to me. I was just angry at Sam and angry at the vampires and just angry at the world I guess. Plus losing my father and that took forever to get over.”

Leah blew a breath out and stared out the window. She was silent for a moment. Bella pulled the car over to the side of the road and put it into park. She then turned toward Leah with wide eyes and waited for her to speak. Leah spoke again while still looking out toward the mountains in the distance:

“You know, for a long time I blamed myself for my father’s death.”

“Whoa. No way. You have to know it wasn’t your fault.”

“Yeah I finally came to peace with it. Seth and I talked about it a lot. And I spoke about it with Keith too. They both helped me understand that part.”

“I’m glad.” Bella said with a small smile.

“Me too.” Leah smiled back.

Then the smile faded as she remembered what she really wanted to say.

“So anyways, I was angry at everyone, even at myself. I felt like I was some sort of reject, that no one wanted me nor would anyone ever want me. So I was angry at the vampires for taking Sam away from me. But now, I’ve been thinking and I realized if it wasn’t for this life I have, I would never have met Keith. Would have never imprinted. Who knew who I would have imprinted on if at all? Or if the Cullen’s had left and we stopped phasing, who knew if I would fallen in love the natural way? There is a lot of uncertainty there. And I don’t like it and now I don’t have to deal with it. Sam is happy with who he is supposed to be with and so am I.”

“I guess what I’m trying to say is, that I’m sorry I was such a bitch for all of these years to you, Bella. You didn’t deserve it. I really want for us to develop a friendship. I love Nessie like she’s my own sister. And Nessie is a part of you. She came out of you. You really are a good person, Bella. You always were. It just took my pigheadedness a while to figure it out.” She said through tears that had formed in her eyes.  

“Oh wow Leah……I…….I……of course I forgive you! I never blamed you for anything. I always knew you got the short end of the stick and it wasn’t fair to you. I am very happy that you and Nessie are getting along so well. The more female influences she has in her life, the better. Especially positive ones. And I would love to get to know you better and spend more time together. Maybe we can even boycott Alice’s shopping trips together!” Bella said with a laugh. Leah laughed too at that.  

“Oh you’re so on with that! I hate shopping!” Leah said.

“Perfect! A partner in crime! I think we can get Rogue on board too. She doesn’t seem too excited each time Alice squeaks about shopping! Hahahahaha!”

          The two of them giggled and then hugged. Leah wiped her tears and Bella blinked through hers. They were ready to go home. Bella put the car into drive and got back on the road.  They got home and walked into the house. Alice, who hadn’t seen anything because she can’t see past wolves, looked at them in surprise and when she finally figured out what had been decided, she growled at them. Bella and Leah both stuck their tongues out at her in unison and then burst out laughing. The rest of the family was surprised at their cheerfulness. Obviously, something had gone down on the way home but neither Bella nor Leah said a word. They just walked into the kitchen without saying anything and started helping Esme make dinner. Leah had wanted to learn how to cook anyway and this was the perfect opportunity for her to A) learn and B) bond with Bella. Kill two birds with one stone.

          Edward knew what was going on and walked over to me, he whispered what he knew and I smiled in response. I was very happy they put their differences aside and decided to move forward. I thought it was very big of Leah to step up to the plate and apologize. I kept smiling and nodding my head.

These were times for peace, quiet, and forgiveness.

        Holy hell! I’m glowing! Just when I thought nothing else could possibly surprise me, I was turned into a walking firefly! And to make things just slightly more interesting, Sue was glowing too. I bet that if we were to walk into downtown Hanover, we would light up half the town! Anyways, enough complaining. I had to really think about this. We both did.

        After we had all walked into the house and Edward had taken our bags upstairs, about a half hour later, there was food available and Sue and I along with the wolves, Watchers, and my gorgeous granddaughter who looked more 14 then 5, sat down at the table. I shuddered when I did the math in my head. Bella looked over at me with a raised eyebrow. I told myself to cool it and just shrugged in her direction.

        I knew that regardless of what Sue and I decided, our lives would never be the same again. I mean mine more than hers. She already knew the whole wolf and vampire thing. Granted the whole Watcher thing stunned her as much as it did me. Who could have guessed that these kinds of Gods……erm………immortals walked this earth? Hell, who would have guessed my daughter was a vampire?! Just then Sue nudged me, I realized everyone was staring at me. I looked at Edward who was smiling though perplexed; Ha! Now he knew how I felt 98% of the time! His grin widened at that. In the time it took for the food to get ready, the Cullen clan had told me about how some vampires have gifts. They explained who from their family was gifted. I was not at all surprised that my Bella fell into that category. Anyways, Sue spoke up to get me out of whatever brain trance I was in:

“Charlie, eat will you? Your food is getting cold!”

“Sorry. I……I……… was just thinking.”

“We know!” Edward, Corin, Keith, Michelle, Alexander, and Rogue said in unison. Then everyone laughed.

Having one mind reader is pretty creepy but having 6 in one room plus one on the way home from her honeymoon from what I learned……well I just had to try to keep my thoughts in one location.

“Yeah, good luck with that.” Keith mumbled to me with a grin.

“Oh for Pete’s sake, will you guys stop that?!” I protested.

“What’s the matter now dad?” Bella said exasperated.

“They are reading my damned mind! I can’t think anything with these people around!” I whined.

“Welcome to the family. Now you know how we feel.” Jacob grumbled.

“Don’t even start Jacob! You and your pack can read each other’s minds too, can’t you?”

“Yeah but, we can only read each other’s minds when we’re in wolf form and even then not everyone else’s in a 2 square mile radius!” Jacob protested in his own defense.

The rest of the family, wolves, and Watchers were watching our exchange with great interest and were all grinning. They were having fun. I was so glad we were entertaining them……NOT! At that, Corin grinned and winked at me. I groaned again and dug into my food. For all my bitching and groaning, I had to say Esme was a divine cook. It seemed like I ate 5 days’ worth of food before I was full. After dinner we all gathered back in the living room, when the door opened and in walked who I assumed to be Peter and Amy; from the nod I got from Edward, I assumed correctly.

The rest of the family briefly forgot about Sue and I, and went to hug and welcome the honeymooners home. Then Carlisle introduced them to us. Peter looked a bit shocked by our shiny exterior but Amy just shook our hands, smiled, and welcomed us. Great, another mind reader……erm……I mean Watcher. Suddenly, Amy remembered something and said she’ll be right back; she then vanished right before our eyes. Sue and I gasped. We hadn’t seen that before. Alexander spoke up and explained:

“One of our many powers is to vanish in the blink of an eye. Beats walking sometimes, especially if you’re in a hurry.” I nodded.

Just then Amy reappeared with a wrapped package, a gift of some sort. She walked over and handed it to Rogue, then she said:

“Happy Belated Mother’s Day! I told you we’d bring you back something.” She then smiled and waited for Rogue to open the package. Everyone was looking on.

Rogue’s hands were shaking a bit as she opened up the package and took out the box that was inside. She then opened the box and gasped as her eyes went wide. She put her hand to her mouth and closed her eyes briefly. When she opened them, they were brimming with tears.

“Oh my God! These are so beautiful. You shouldn’t have. Thank you so much……both of you.” She whispered softly. She then walked over to first Peter then Amy and gave them each a huge hug.

Then she showed us the gifts. All the women in the room gasped. In the box lay a jewelry set of white gold with the Gaelic pattern in every little inch of it. The pattern was incrusted with diamonds. (Picture is below). Even I said wow. I’d never seen anything like it. It was obvious even to me that though Rogue wasn’t their mother in any way shape or form, that’s how they regarded her, especially Amy as her second in command. It seemed all very precious to me.

Finally, it was dark outside and everyone was speaking amongst themselves. Sue and I decided to go to our rooms and talk alone about the hefty choice in our laps. Decisions, decisions. So up we went, glowing all the way. We sat down on a little couch in her room and were silent for a long time. Then we looked at each other and without even saying anything, knew what our decision was. We didn’t need 24 hours. But what we did need was to see our children.

We called down and they came. Leah, Seth, Bella, and Nessie walked into our room. We asked them to sit down. Then I asked them:

“If it was you guys who had to make this choice, what would you do?” Everyone was thoughtful for a long moment.

“It’s a really tough choice dad. I mean you have to give up everything you know even if you do get to stay with all of us.” Bella said thoughtfully.

“I want you to stay.” Nessie said earnestly.

“I think you’ve already made up your minds, you just wanted to see what we would say, isn’t that right?” Leah said shrewdly. Sue and I looked at each other. Then we nodded.

“Look mom, Charlie, whatever you decide, we won’t love you any less. Being immortal isn’t easy. You have to embrace it with every fiber of your being.” Seth said wisely.

I took a deep breath and then said:

“We have both decided not to be Watchers. The reasons are quite simple for us. We’re too old and too set in our ways to be immortal. Sue wants to follow her people’s traditions both in life and in death. Neither of us wants to leave Forks or the reservation. We have a life there. As absurd as it sounds, we actually want to grow old. And though dying isn’t going to be pleasant, we both want to see heaven. We hope you understand.” Sue smiled and took my hand to affirm her resolve.

        As I finished speaking, Sue and I stopped glowing! We were shocked for a moment as were the others in the room with us. I guess when you make your decision and voice it; you stop being chosen and stop glowing. Our children, save Bella who couldn’t, started crying. But they smiled through their tears and hugged us. They all understood our points and supported us just as we have always supported all of them and would continue to. Then holding hands we all walked down stairs where everyone else was waiting. I walked over to Rogue who was smiling at us and said:

“I hope you aren’t mad at us.”

“Mad? Why would I be mad?” She asked surprised.

“Does this happen often then, people deciding not to be Watchers?” Sue asked.

“Actually, I would have been surprised if you would have said yes. Most people, your age that are chosen, say no. For the exactly the same reasons that you gave; it’s quite normal actually.” She explained.

Having heard that, I was satisfied. We both were. We could continue living our lives the way we want to and we knew that even when we were gone, our children and my grandchild would be happy and taken care of always no matter where they went. That was a huge point of contentment for me. And the other awesome part is that I stopped glowing!! Finally, back to being a normal non-shining human being! Just the way I liked it, the less complicated the better. With that we said goodnight and went to bed. We were staying in the same room which made both of us blush and other then Emmett being a bit obnoxious no one gave us grief about it.

And hey, I didn’t need Sue’s sleeping mask after all!

          It’s a new week and we have all been relatively busy. Amy and Peter are on the last leg of their honeymoon and should be home tomorrow, I’ve been working long hours at the hospital, and the rest of the family have been doing all sorts of things. To tell you the truth, I have no idea what though. Esme has been teaching Michelle and Nessie. The school year is almost over and both girls couldn’t be more thrilled for summer. I wonder what they will want to do for the summer.

          The next day, we were all in our house. The Watchers had come over to hang out and I had the day off. The girls’ lesson was over and they were lounging around watching some show on TV along with Alice and Corin; I think it’s called Project Runway. Rosalie was sitting with Esme and reading the crocheting book that Alice had gotten Esme in Japan. Apparently, Rose wants to learn how to crochet so she can make some sweaters for Emmett. Jasper and Emmett were discussing something about the news; I think they were debating about Syria and North Korea. Edward was just lounging around on the couch with Bella who was reading a book. Alexander actually had a passion for drawing/painting and was doodling something in his art notebook with Seth, Jacob, and Leah looking on with interest. Every so often they would ask him to add something to the painting. Keith was sitting next to Leah and just rubbing her back. She would look at him every so often and blush. Only Rogue was missing from the picture of contentment. She was in the other room on the phone with some Watchers in Europe, getting an update on a few assignments.

          Just then, Alice gasped and stared into space. Everyone automatically focused on her. Edward gasped as well. The rest of us just waited for an explanation. Jasper was by Alice’s side in under a second. He put his hands on her shoulders and shook her slightly until she focused again on him. When she did, she looked concerned and unsure. Emmett was the one who spoke first:

“Will someone please tell us what is going on? I hate the suspense!”

Corin hopped up and put her fingers on her temples, seconds after that Rogue walked back into the room looking concerned. I remembered that Rogue told us the first day that she met us on that field that they were able to communicate through telepathy, so I figured Corin had called her into the room. Everyone crowded around Alice and were waiting for her to speak. Waiting for someone to say something. Alice glanced away from Jasper and looked straight at Bella and said:

“Charlie knows……..everything.” 

Because we were so used to shocking news it didn’t take long for Bella to utter:

“WHAT?? HOW?? Who told him?”

“Sue and Billy.” Edward answered.

“But why? What’s the point?” asked Rose.

Jacob and Seth looked at each other. It was obvious that they weren’t comfortable that their parents were mentioned. Especially when it came to exposure.  Even with the Volturi gone, we still didn’t want to be known by the humans around us. There were still rules and we were in a room full of Watchers…..one of whom in particular worried me; Rogue.

“Apparently, Billy had invited Charlie for a bonfire on the reservation and started telling stories. He and Sue had decided to tell Charlie everything. Oh now I see……” Alice said thoughtfully.

“What is it Alice?” I asked.

“The reason they finally decided to tell Charlie was because he and Billy were out hunting one day and Charlie took a shot which nearly hit a wolf. That wolf happened to be Embry. Billy was shaken by how close it was. So he sat down with Sue and they decided to tell Charlie everything. Well they wanted to tell him the whole wolf thing. It was Charlie himself that started asking about vampires.” Alice mused.

“So then what happened?” Seth piped in.

“Well at the bonfire, Billy told about the Quileute legends..….all the way to the beginning. Followed by Sam and Embry phasing to show Charlie the whole point. He jumped only once, the wolves just stood there. Charlie stared at them, it took him a few minutes to digest everything, then and here’s the amazing part, Charlie stood up, walked slowly up to Embry. He touched his fur and rubbed it. Embry didn’t move so he wouldn’t spook him. They stayed like that for a while and then Charlie said ‘Look guys, you are great as wolves but can you turn back into humans so at least we can talk?’ Everyone was shocked by his candor. “

We were all listening stunned. Then Alice walked over the couch, sat down, and continued to tell the story only as she saw it. I peeked over at my family who were showing different emotions. Then I stole a glance toward Rogue who remained standing, listening, with a poker face. I couldn’t imagine what she was thinking. I just really hoped she wouldn’t have to harm Charlie. That would really be awful. She must have heard my thoughts because her eyes met mine and she shook her head–no–ever so slightly. I sighed silently with relief. I turned my attention back to Alice who was continuing the story.

“Then after everyone rejoined the bonfire, Charlie looked at Billy and Sue and asked them about us and what the whole vampire thing was about. To say Billy and Sue were shocked is an understatement. They hesitated but he urged them on. He said he figured if he could deal with two boys transforming into wolves, he can deal with the whole vampire thing. Sue asked what happened that changed his mind from the whole need to know thing. He said, he felt that we moved away because he couldn’t understand the stuff. Sue and Billy hesitated so he just kept urging. Then they told him. All of it. Including about how Bella gave birth to Nessie, and how Nessie is a hybrid and the whole imprinting thing.”

“It definitely caught him off guard. He went through a whole gambit of emotion; shock, anger, bewilderment, sadness. They told him that we didn’t eat humans but animals just like he did but instead of eating their flesh we drank the blood. I think that made him feel better. Then after he had more time to process everything, he asked if we all left because he couldn’t man up and handle it. Sue told him the truth about not aging and causing people to wonder. That being said, he wanted to come here and talk to us and see everything for himself.” Alice finished.

“Whoa whoa whoa……so he’s coming here?!” Emmett guffawed.

“Yep.” Alice answered.

“When?” Esme asked.

“If my calculations of everything are correct, They are already on their way. Sue is coming with him. They will be here in about a half hour. They caught a flight earlier today.”

That gave us time to think. I could tell Bella was wildly staring at the floor trying to piece together everything that was just said. I didn’t need to be Edward to know that she was trying to digest the fact that her father knew our whole history……and most unbelievably……was alright with it! What did it all mean? The rest of the family just kind of scampered around and tried to prepare themselves for what this little reunion was going to be like. The Watchers were the only ones that weren’t saying anything or reacting in any way. I was wondering if they were communicating telepathically so we wouldn’t know what’s going on. Corin just smiled at me. I shook my head.

Finally, Bella couldn’t take it anymore and stomped outside. Edward and Nessie followed her. The rest of us slowly migrated onto the porch. About 10 minutes after that a cab pulled up at the entry to our drive way and we watched Charlie and Sue step out, pay the cab, and start walking toward us. Charlie was carrying two bags, one presumably being Sue’s. Charlie was a gentleman and would never let a lady carry her own overnight bag. Just that part made me smile a bit as a watched them walk out of view as they made their way through the trees and into our front yard. The cab was long gone by then.

As they emerged from the forest and stepped into the opening that led to our house, something totally unexpected happened. Sue and Charlie started to glow. Not like the sun hitting them type or being happy type of glow; they literally started to glow. A yellow light was emanating from their bodies. They stopped short as they realized what was happening. We looked on in shock. Bella then snapped out of her shock and ran to her father.

“Dad! Are you alright? Are you in pain?”

“No. I’m fine. What’s happening, Bells?” Charlie whispered.

“I have no idea!” Bella said as she stared at Charlie and Sue still glowing away.

          At that point we started to realize that none of the Watchers were looking shocked. In fact, Corin, Alexander, Michelle, and Keith were just smiling. They didn’t say a word. The looked into the house and waited until Rogue appeared. She looked at all of us, then her Watchers, and then the scene in the yard and she too smiled. Right before our eyes she changed into the same dress that she was wearing the first time we ever saw her. She then floated off the porch and toward Charlie and Sue who were looking at her in shock and wonder. No one spoke. When she reached them, she floated to the ground and walked forward. Then she reached out both hands and touched both Charlie and Sue on the shoulder. Charlie and Sue blinked furiously. It reminded me of when Edward had the same facial expression on that field when the Watchers first appeared and Rogue was telepathically telling Edward we’d be alright. I could only imagine what she was telling them.

          Then when it was all done, she retracted her arms and smiled again. She waited for Charlie and Sue to wrap their minds around whatever it was that she had told them. Charlie was the first one who spoke:

“Wha……we……wait…….so……huh?”

“Dad….please….tell me what she showed you. What just happened?” Bella pleaded with him.

“Hold on Bells, let me figure all of this out.” Charlie said.

“Figure what out?”

“We’re Watchers?” Sue finally spoke.

          We all gasped. Wait what? Charlie and Sue were Watchers? That was impossible. Watchers are immortal and Charlie and Sue are humans. What was happening here? Rogue looked at all of us and laughed, the other Watchers joined in.

“I think we’ve kept them all in suspense for long enough. It’s time to tell them.” Rogue said. The others nodded.

“Yes I think that would be best.” I said.

“Yes, Charlie and Sue are Watchers. They have the Watcher gene. When the Watcher gene is awakened in an ordinary human being, that human begins to glow. We have yet to figure out what is the catalyst to the awakening of the gene and who gets it as opposed to who doesn’t. That’s still a mystery in our timeline. When I touched them both, I told and showed them the history of us and what they were now chosen to be. Of course, they had the option to not choose to be Watchers. We are usually given 24 hours to make the decision. Deciding on being a Watcher automatically means immortality. It also means the gaining of powers same as Corin and the others. It’s not a decision made lightly. Becoming a Watcher is a huge responsibility. It means they have to move around like the rest of us because they will not age. The up side to this is that now they could be with you, Bella, always. So in a way it’s a double edged sword in this day and age.”

Again no one spoke. Wrapping our minds around this new development took a bit of time. The Watchers waited. They were used to this. Amazingly, it was Charlie who broke the silence and stunned us yet again with his candor:

“Ok, I get it that I have 24 hours to decide this. But do I have to glow the entire time? I feel like an oversized firefly!”

Corin and Michelle giggled. He smiled in their direction. It was Rogue who spoke once again:

“Sorry Charlie, that’s one thing that I don’t decide. When we were chosen to be Watchers eons ago, we also glowed for 24 hours.”

“Great……so how will I sleep?” Charlie grumbled. That’s what he was worried about?????

“You can borrow my sleeping mask.” Sue winked at him.

We all gaped at their back and forth banter. Bella finally found her voice again and spoke, directing her next question to her father:

“Who are you? And what have you done with my father?”

“Awww come on Bells. I’m not that bad! You make it sound like the invasion of the body snatchers!”

“What happened to ‘need to know ONLY?’”

“I decided that it wasn’t good enough that you had to move away. That I was man enough to deal with all of this.” He waved his arms toward all of us.

Again no one spoke. Finally, I decided that it was time for me to step up to the plate and open my mouth:

“Well standing around and gawking isn’t going to help matters, I’m sure Charlie and Sue are tired after their trip and may need to get some rest not to mention some real food. We imagine airplane food isn’t all that tasty.”

“Kinda like prison food.” Jacob mumbled.

“How do you know? You’ve never even been to prison!!” Nessie poked him in the arm and asked.

At that point we let the younger generation bicker as Rogue and I shuffled everyone including our two glowing additions into the house where Edward took their bags into the rooms they would be staying in; they were side by side. Meanwhile, Esme raced to the kitchen followed by Rosalie and Alice to prepare a meal. Bella was standing next to her glowing father, who put his arms around her and hugged her. She hugged him back.

“I love you Bells. No matter what Sue and I decide. No matter whether if you’re a vampire or a wolf or a fairy. You’ll always be my little girl.”

“Thanks dad, I love you too.” Bella whispered. I think if she could have cried, she would have.

Her dad was accepting her…..accepting all of us as we were…….and what more could one ask for?