I heard the music before I was out of the car. Edward hadn't touched his piano since the night Alice left.

　　Now, as I shut the car door, I heard the song morph through a bridge and change into my lullaby.

　　Edward was welcoming me home.

　　I moved slowly as I pulled Renesmee—fast asleep; we'd been gone all day—from the car. We'd leftJacob at Charlie's—he'd said he was going to catch a ride home with Sue. I wondered if he was trying tofill his head with enough trivia to crowd out the image of the way my face had looked when I'd walkedthrough Charlie's door.

　　As I walked slowly to the Cullen house now, I recognized that the hope and uplift that seemed almost avisible aura around the big white house had been mine this morning, too. It felt alien to me now.

　　I wanted to cry again, hearing Edward play for me. But I pulled it together. I didn't want him to besuspicious. I would leave no clues in his mind for Aro if I could help it.

　　Edward turned his head and smiled when I came in the door, but kept playing.

　　"Welcome home," he said, as if this was just any normal day. As if there weren't twelve other vampiresin the room involved in various pursuits, and a dozen more scattered around somewhere. "Did you have agood time with Charlie today?""Yes. Sorry I was gone so long. I stepped out to do a little Christmas shopping for Renesmee. I know itwon't be much of an event, but..." I shrugged.

　　Edward's lips turned down. He quit playing and spun around on the bench so that his whole body wasfacing me. He put one hand on my waist and pulled me closer. "I hadn't thought much about it. If youwant to make an event of it—""No," I interrupted him. I flinched internally at the idea of trying to fake more enthusiasm than the bareminimum. "I just didn't want to let it pass without giving her something.""Do I get to see?""If you want. It's only a little thing."Renesmee was completely unconscious, snoring delicately against my neck. I envied her. It would havebeen nice to escape reality, even for just a few hours.

　　Carefully, I fished the little velvet jewelry bag from my clutch without opening the purse enough forEdward to see the cash I was still carrying.

　　"It caught my eye from the window of an antique store while I was driving by."I shook the little golden locket into his palm. It was round with a slender vine border carved around theoutside edge of the circle. Edward popped the tiny catch and looked inside. There was space for a smallpicture and, on the opposite side, an inscription in French.

　　"Do you know what this says?" he asked in a different tone, more subdued than before.

　　"The shopkeeper told me it said something along the lines of 'more than my own life.' Is that right?""Yes, he had it right."He looked up at me, his topaz eyes probing. I met his gaze for a moment, then pretended to bedistracted by the television.

　　"I hope she likes it," I muttered.

　　"Of course she will," he said lightly, casually, and I was sure in that second that he knew I was keepingsomething from him. I was also sure that he had no idea of the specifics.

　　"Let's take her home," he suggested, standing and putting his arm around my shoulders.

　　I hesitated.

　　"What?" he demanded.

　　"I wanted to practice with Emmett a little___" I'd lost the whole day to my vital errand; it made me feelbehind.

　　Emmett—on the sofa with Rose and holding the remote, of course—looked up and grinned inanticipation. "Excellent. The forest needs thinning."Edward frowned at Emmett and then at me.

　　"There's plenty of time for that tomorrow," he said.

　　"Don't be ridiculous," I complained. "There's no such thing as plenty of time anymore. That conceptdoes not exist. I have a lot to learn and—"He cut me off. "Tomorrow."And his expression was such that not even Emmett argued.

　　i was surprised at how hard it was to go back to a routine that was, after all, brand new. But strippingaway even that little bit of hope I'd been fostering made everything seem impossible.

　　I tried to focus on the positives. There was a good chance that my daughter was going to survive whatwascoming, and Jacob, too. If they had a future, then that was a kind of victory, wasn't it? Our little bandmust be going to hold their own if Jacob and Renesmee were going to have the opportunity to run in thefirst place. Yes, Alice's strategy only made sense if we were going to put up a really good fight. So, akind of victory there, too, considering that the Volturi had never been seriously challenged in millennia.

　　It was not going to be the end of the world. Just the end of the Cullens. The end of Edward, the end ofme.

　　I preferred it that way—the last part anyway. I would not live without Edward again; if he was leavingthis world, then I would be right behind him.

　　I wondered idly now and then if there would be anything for us on the other side. I knew Edward didn'treally believe so, but Carlisle did. I couldn't imagine it myself. On the other hand, I couldn't imagineEdward not existing somehow, somewhere. If we could be together in any place, then that was a happyending.

　　And so the pattern of my days continued, just that much harder than before.

　　We went to see Charlie on Christmas Day, Edward, Renesmee, Jacob, and I. All of Jacob's pack werethere, plus Sam, Emily, and Sue. It was a big help to have them there in Charlie's little rooms, their huge,warm bodies wedged into corners around his sparsely decorated tree—you could see exactly where he'dgotten bored and quit—and overflowing his furniture. You could always count on werewolves to bebuzzed about a coming fight, no matter how suicidal. The electricity of their excitement provided a nicecurrent that disguised my utter lack of spirit. Edward was, as always, a better actor than I was.

　　Renesmee wore the locket I'd given her at dawn, and in her jacket pocket was the MP3 player Edwardhad given her—a tiny thing that held five thousand songs, already filled with Edward's favorites. On herwrist was an intricately braided Quileute version of a promise ring. Edward had gritted his teeth over thatone, but it didn't bother me.

　　Soon, so soon, I would be giving her to Jacob for safekeeping. How could I be bothered by any symbolof the commitment I was so relying on?

　　Edward had saved the day by ordering a gift for Charlie, too. It had shown up yesterday—priorityovernight shipping—and Charlie spent all morning reading the thick instruction manual to his new fishingsonar system.

　　From the way the werewolves ate, Sue's lunch spread must have been good. I wondered how thegathering would have looked to an outsider. Did we play our parts well enough? Would a stranger havethought us a happy circle of friends, enjoying the holiday with casual cheer?

　　I think Edward and Jacob both were as relieved as I was when it was time to go. It felt odd to spendenergy on the human fagade when there were so many more important things to be doing. I had a hardtime concentrating. At the same time, this was perhaps the last time I would see Charlie. Maybe it was agood thing that I was too numb to really register that.

　　I hadn't seen my mother since the wedding, but I found I could only be glad for the gradual distancingthat had begun two years ago. She was too fragile for my world. I didn't want her to have any part ofthis. Charlie was stronger.

　　Maybe even strong enough for a goodbye now, but I wasn't.

　　It was very quiet in the car; outside, the rain was just a mist, hovering on the edge between liquid andice. Renesmee sat on my lap, playing with her locket, opening and closing it. I watched her and imaginedthe things I would say to Jacob right now if I didn't have to keep my words out of Edward's head.

　　If its ever safe again, take her to Charlie. Tell him the whole story someday. Tell him how much I lovedhim, how I couldn't bear to leave him even when my human life was over. Tell him he was the best father.

　　Tell him to pass my love on to Renee, all my hopes that she will be happy and well....

　　I would have to give Jacob the documents before it was too late. I would give him a note for Charlie,too. And a letter for Renesmee. Something for her to read when I couldn't tell her I loved her anymore.

　　There was nothing unusual about the outside of the Cullen house as we pulled into the meadow, but Icould hear some kind of subtle uproar inside. Many low voices murmured and growled. It soundedintense, and it sounded like an argument. I could pick out Carlisle's voice and Amun's more often than theothers.

　　Edward parked in front of the house rather than going around to the garage. We exchanged one waryglance before we got out of the car.

　　Jacob's stance changed; his face turned serious and careful. I guessed that he was in Alpha mode now.

　　Obviously, something had happened, and he was going to get the information he and Sam would need.

　　"Alistair is gone," Edward murmured as we darted up the steps.

　　Inside the front room, the main confrontation was physically apparent. Lining the walls was a ring ofspectators, every vampire who had joined us, except for Alistair and the three involved in the quarrel.

　　Esme, Kebi, and Tia were the closest to the three vampires in the center; in the middle of the room,Amun was hissing at Carlisle and Benjamin.

　　Edward's jaw tightened and he moved quickly to Esme's side, towing me by the hand. I clutchedRenesmee tightly to my chest.

　　"Amun, if you want to go, no one is forcing you to stay," Carlisle said calmly.

　　"You're stealing half my coven, Carlisle!" Amun shrieked, stabbing one finger at Benjamin. "Is that whyyou called me here? To steal from me?"Carlisle sighed, and Benjamin rolled his eyes.

　　"Yes, Carlisle picked a fight with the Volturi, endangered his whole family, just to lure me here to mydeath," Benjamin said sarcastically. "Be reasonable, Amun. I'm committed to do the right thing here—I'mnot joining any other coven. You can do whatever you want, of course, as Carlisle has pointed out.""This won't end well," Amun growled. "Alistair was the only sane one here. We should all be running.""Think of who you're calling sane," Tia murmured in a quiet aside.

　　"We're all going to be slaughtered!""It's not going to come to a fight," Carlisle said in a firm voice.

　　"You say!""If it does, you can always switch sides, Amun. I'm sure the Volturi will appreciate your help."Amun sneered at him. "Perhaps that is the answer."Carlisle's answer was soft and sincere. "I wouldn't hold that against you, Amun. We have been friendsfor a long time, but I would never ask you to die for me."Amun's voice was more controlled, too. "But you're taking my Benjamin down with you."Carlisle put his hand on Amun's shoulder; Amun shook it off.

　　"I'll stay, Carlisle, but it might be to your detriment. I will join them if that's the road to survival. You'reall fools to think that you can defy the Volturi." He scowled, then sighed, glanced at Renesmee and me,and added in an exasperated tone, "I will witness that the child has grown. That's nothing but the truth.

　　Anyone would see that.""That's all we've ever asked."Amun grimaced, "But not all that you are getting, it seems." He turned on Benjamin. "I gave you life.

　　You're wasting it."Benjamin's face looked colder than I'd ever seen it; the expression contrasted oddly with his boyishfeatures. "It's a pity you couldn't replace my will with your own in the process; perhaps then you wouldhave been satisfied with me."Amun's eyes narrowed. He gestured abruptly to Kebi, and they stalked past us out the front door.

　　"He's not leaving," Edward said quietly to me, "but he'll............