After Forever (a Twilight Saga fanfiction: 10 years after Breaking Dawn)

34 ∘ Vacation (EPOV)

October 15th/16th/17th/20th 2016

“Aunt Katie!” Renesmee yelled, running first out of the car.

“My Nessie!” Kate embraced her forcefully, and Carmen was eagerly waiting for her turn.

They both kissed Bella’s cheeks as Eleazar shook my hand, then all smiled politely at Jacob.

“How‘s the family?” Garrett asked.

I nodded. “Well, thank you.” I looked behind them. “Where’s Tanya?”

Kate rolled her eyes and Carmen smirked. Eleazar remained neutral. “She’s met someone.”

I widened my eyes. “Human?”

He nodded.

“Wow. Since when?“

“A few weeks,” Kate mumbled.

“Why so glum?” Bella nudged her as we headed inside.

“It’s just... fast. Usually when she has a little thing with a human, she ends it fairly quickly. She’s making it seem like this one’s real.”

“Maybe it is.”

Kate shrugged.

“Did you feel this way when you found out about Edward and me?”

“No.”

“So why is this different?” Bella insisted.

“Simple. Edward always kept to himself before he met you.” She sat on the sofa, and Renesmee curled up next to her. “It wasn’t a constant thing for him. Getting close to anyone, let alone humans. When you came around, it was clear how real it was for him. With Tanya...”

She had a brief mental picture of Tanya smiling wider than I’d ever seen. In all honesty, it was a relief to hear about this. Maybe she was finally over me. We could be a real family, without the complicated and awkward visits. No more flirting, no more making Bella uncomfortable... Not that she would ever say it.

Kate sighed. “I just don’t buy it, that’s all.”

I could see she wasn’t trying to be cruel. She wanted her sister happy, of course. She just didn’t know how a human would fit in here.

Though, I didn’t understand why. She loves Bella. She knows it’s possible for it to work out.

“Well, it’ll be okay. No matter what happens. You just have to trust her,” Bella encouraged. Kate took her hand and smiled.

I patted Nessie’s hair before turning for the door again. “I’m gonna get our stuff before Jacob and I leave.”

I quickly set the bags in an empty bedroom upstairs that Jacob and Renesmee would sleep in. He and I were going shopping for food and Halloween decorations.

We dressed for freezing weather before we left, and for once he let me drive without complaining. He usually insisted on driving when we had fast cars.

We got about halfway there before we spoke.

“How’s the house going?”

I smiled. His and Nessie’s wedding gift still had him feeling guilty and grateful.

“Nearly finished. You haven’t said anything revealing to her, have you?”

“Of course not... I seriously wish you and Bells didn’t go through all that trouble, though. I mean... we have to leave Forks eventually, right?”

“Right. But we always come back. It’s our favorite place. It’s home.”

I pulled into the parking lot of the small shop, not hearing many people inside.