Waxing Gibbous

Deadline (A)

I watched as Bella pulled into the drive. She left early this morning, to run a few errands, I knew Edward was worried, but I had to know if she had another plan. A plan that Edward couldn't see.

With a quick glance I realized I was alone, only Kate and Garrett were in the front room. Calmly I went to the garage and cornered Bella, putting a hand on her mouth to prevent her from talking. I found a pen and asked her.

Bella's eyes widened, but she quickly nodded. She opened her purse to show me a hoard of papers and cash. There was five passports, one for Renesmee, Demetri, Seth, Leah, and Nestor.

'it's safer this way.' She wrote.

And I knew she was right. Bella nodded taking the note from me, stuffing it into her pocket before walking with me inside.

Only Kate and Garrett were in the front room, arguing playfully about the nutritional value of animal blood. I inferred that Garrett had attempted a hunting trip vegetarian-style and found it difficult. I left them alone to find Rose.

She was upstairs, she just recently got Demetri to sleep, he wasn't a trouble child but with all the newcomers he wanted to learn everything. She was flipping through the picture book, her a smile on her face as she looked at our boy.

"hey" she looked at me with a smile on her lips. "how about we take a bath?"

Rose nodded and allowed me to pulled her into the bathroom for some much-needed alone time. The water was luke-warm the perfect temperature for both of us.

"everything is going to be okay" I whispered to her as she rested her back against my chest. She didn't ask any questions, only wrapped my hands around her chest and planting a kiss on my jaw.

I peppered her shoulder with kisses as my hands massaged her skin, trying to sooth her. This was hard for everyone, and it was only going to get harder the moment the Volturi show up.

There was nothing left now but waiting.

For two days, Edward and Carlisle stayed in the clearing where Alice had seen the Volturi arrive. It was the same killing field where Victoria's newborns had attacked last summer. I wondered if it felt repetitive to Carlisle, like deja vu. It sure felt like that to me, but this time I was standing up front with them and not lying-in wait.

We could only imagine that the Volturi would be tracking either Edward or Carlisle. I wondered if it would surprise them that their prey didn't run. Would that make them wary? I couldn't imagine the Volturi ever feeling a need for caution.

I stayed with Rose and Demetri. We had not had a last grand scene of farewell, nor did I plan one. To speak the word was to make it final. It would be the same as typing the words The End on the last page of a manuscript. So, we did not say our goodbyes, and we stayed very close to each other, always touching. Whatever end found us, it would not find us separated.

We set up a tent for Renesmee and Demetri a few yards back into the protective forest, and then there was more deja vu as i found myself camping in the cold again, with Edward and Bella and Seth. It was almost impossible to believe how much things had changed since last June. Now everything was in perfect balance. It seemed hideously ironic that the puzzle pieces would fit together just in time for all of them to be destroyed.

It started to snow again the night before New Year's Eve. This time, the tiny flakes did not dissolve into the stony ground of the clearing. I fell asleep inside the tent with the 'pups', my pack guarded the tent and prepared for battle. Korinna would be waiting at my home, where Nestor would take them to pick her up on the way to freedom.

The snow made first a thin icing over the earth, then built into thicker drifts. By the time the sun rose, the scene from Alice's vision was complete. I looked at Bella and she nodded understanding everything. I placed a kiss on Demetri's head.