i took mythology a lot more seriously since I'd become a vampire.

　　Often, when I looked back over my first three months as an immortal, I imagined how the thread of mylife might look in the Fates' loom—who knew but that it actually existed? I was sure my thread must havechanged color; I thought it had probably started out as a nice beige, something supportive andnon-confrontational, something that would look good in the background. Now it felt like it must be brightcrimson, or maybe glistening gold.

　　The tapestry of family and friends that wove together around me was a beautiful, glowing thing, full oftheir bright, complementary colors.

　　I was surprised by some of the threads I got to include in my life. The werewolves, with their deep,woodsy colors, were not something I'd expected; Jacob, of course, and Seth, too. But my old friendsQuil and Embry became part of the fabric as they joined Jacob's pack, and even Sam and Emily werecordial. The tensions between our families eased, mostly due to Renesmee. She was easy to love.

　　Sue and Leah Clearwater were interlaced into our life, too—two more I had not anticipated.

　　Sue seemed to have taken it on herself to smooth Charlie's transition into the world of make-believe.

　　She came with him to the Cullens' most days, though she never seemed truly comfortable here the wayher son and most of Jake's pack did. She did not speak often; she just hovered protectively near Charlie.

　　She was always the first person he looked to when Renesmee did something disturbingly advanced—which was often. In answer, Sue would eye Seth meaningfully as if to say, Yeah, tell me about it.

　　Leah was even less comfortable than Sue and was the only part of our recently extended family whowas openly hostile to the merger. However, she and Jacob had a new camaraderie that kept her close tous all. I asked him about it once—hesitantly; I didn't want to pry, but the relationship was so differentfrom the way it used to be that it made me curious. He shrugged and told me it was a pack thing. Shewas his second-in-command now, his "beta," asI'd called it once long ago.

　　"I figured as long as I was going to do this Alpha thing for real," Jacob explained, "I'd better nail downthe formalities."The new responsibility made Leah feel the need to check in with him often, and since he was always withRenesmee...

　　Leah was not happy to be near us, but she was the exception. Happiness was the main component in mylife now, the dominant pattern in the tapestry. So much so that my relationship with Jasper was now muchcloser than I'd ever dreamed it would be.

　　At first I was really annoyed, though.

　　"Yeesh!" I complained to Edward one night after we'd put Renesmee in her wrought-iron crib. "If Ihaven't killed Charlie or Sue yet, it's probably not going to happen. I wish Jasper would stop hovering allthe time!""No one doubts you, Bella, not in the slightest," he assured me. "You know how Jasper is—he can'tresist a good emotional climate. You're so happy all the time, love, he gravitates toward you withoutthinking."And then Edward hugged me tightly, because nothing pleased him more than my overwhelming ecstasyin this new life.

　　And I was euphoric the vast majority of the time. The days were not long enough for me to get my fill ofadoring my daughter; the nights did not have enough hours to satisfy my need for Edward.

　　There was a flipside to the joy, though. If you turned the fabric of our lives over, I imagined the designon the backside would be woven in the bleak grays of doubt and fear.

　　Renesmee spoke her first word when she was exactly one week old. The word was Momma, whichwould have made my day, except that I was so frightened by her progress I could barely force my frozenface to smile back at her. It didn't help that she continued from her first word to her first sentence in thesame breath. "Momma, where is Grandpa?" she'd asked in a clear, high soprano, only bothering to speakaloud because I was across the room from her. She'd already asked Rosalie, using her normal (orseriously abnormal, from another point of view) means of communication. Rosalie hadn't known theanswer, so Renesmee had turned to me.

　　When she walked for the first time, fewer than three weeks later, it was similar. She'd simply stared atAlice for a long moment, watching intently as her aunt arranged bouquets in the vases scattered aroundthe room, dancing back and forth across the floor with her arms full of flowers. Renesmee got to her feet,not in the least bit shaky, and crossed the floor almost as gracefully.

　　Jacob had burst into applause, because that was clearly the response Renesmee wanted. The way hewas tied to her made his own reactions secondary; his first reflex was always to give Renesmee whatevershe needed. But our eyes met, and I saw all the panic in mine echoed in his. I made my hands claptogether, too, trying to hide my fear from her. Edward applauded quietly at my side, and we didn't needto speak our thoughts to know they were the same.

　　Edward and Carlisle threw themselves into research, looking for any answers, anything to expect. Therewasvery little to be found, and none of it verifiable.

　　Alice and Rosalie usually began our day with a fashion show. Renesmee never wore the same clothestwice, partly because she outgrew her clothes almost immediately and partly because Alice and Rosaliewere trying to create a baby album that appeared to span years rather than weeks. They took thousandsof pictures, documenting every phase of her accelerated childhood.

　　At three months, Renesmee could have been a big one-year-old, or a small two-year-old. She wasn'tshaped exactly like a toddler; she was leaner and more graceful, her proportions were more even, like anadult's. Her bronze ringlets hung to her waist; I couldn't bear to cut them, even if Alice would haveallowed it. Renesmee could speak with flawless grammar and articulation, but she rarely bothered,preferring to simply show people what she wanted. She could not only walk but run and dance. Shecould even read.

　　I'd been reading Tennyson to her one night, because the flow and rhythm of his poetry seemed restful. (Ihad to search constantly for new material; Renesmee didn't like repetition in her bedtime stories as otherchildren supposedly did, and she had no patience for picture books.) She reached up to touch my cheek,the image in her mind one of us, only with her holding the book. I gave it to her, smiling.

　　" There is sweet music here,'" she read without hesitation, "'that softer falls than petals from blown roseson the grass, or night-dews on still waters between walls of shadowy granite, in a gleaming pass—'"My hand was robotic as I took the book back.

　　"If you read, how will you fall asleep?" I asked in a voice that had barely escaped shaking.

　　By Carlisle's calculations, the growth of her body was gradually slowing; her mind continued to race onahead. Even if the rate of decrease held steady, she'd still be an adult in no more than four years.

　　Four years. And an old woman by fifteen.

　　Just fifteen years of life.

　　But she was so healthy. Vital, bright, glowing, and happy. Her conspicuous well-being made it easy forme to be happy with her in the moment and leave the future for tomorrow.

　　Carlisle and Edward discussed our options for the future from every angle in low voices that I tried notto hear. They never had these discussions when Jacob was around, because there was one sure way tohalt aging, and that wasn't something Jacob was likely to be excited about. I wasn't. Too dangerous! myinstincts screamed at me. Jacob and Renesmee seemed alike in so many ways, both half-and-half beings,two things at the same time. And all the werewolf lore insisted that vampire venom was a death sentencerather than a course to immortality___Carlisle and Edward had exhausted the research they could do from a distance, and now we werepreparing to follow old legends at their source. We were going back to Brazil, starting there. The Ticunashad legends about children like Renesmee.... If other children like her had ever existed, perhaps sometale of the life span of half-mortal children still lingered___The only real question left was exactly when we would go.

　　I was the holdup. A small part of it was that I wanted to stay near Forks until after the holidays, forCharlie'ssake. But more than that, there was a different journey that I knew had to come first—that was the clearpriority. Also, it had to be a solo trip.

　　This was the only argument that Edward and I had gotten in since I'd become a vampire. The main pointof contention was the "solo" part. But the facts were what they were, and my plan was the only one thatmade rational sense. I had to go see the Volturi, and I had to do it absolutely alone.

　　Even freed from old nightmares, from any dreams at all, it was impossible to forget the Volturi. Nor didthey leave us without reminders.

　　Until the day that Aro's present showed up, i didn't know that Alice had sent a wedding announcementto the Volturi leaders; we'd been far away on Esme's island when she'd seen a vision of Volturi soldiers—Jane and Alec, the devastatingly powerful twins, among them. Caius was planning to send a huntingparty to see if I was still human, against their edict (because I knew about the secret vampire world, Ieither must join it or be silenced... permanently). So Alice had mailed the announcement, seeing that thiswould delay them as they deciphered the meaning behind it. But they would come eventually. That wascertain.

　　The present itself was not overtly threatening. Extravagant, yes, almost frightening in that veryextravagance. The threat was in the parting line of Aro's congratulatory note, written in black ink on asquare of heavy, plain white paper in Aro's own hand:

　　I so look forward to seeing the new Mrs. Cullen in person.

　　The gift was presented in an ornately carved, ancient wooden box inlaid with gold and mother-of-pearl,ornamented with a rainbow of gemstones. Alice said the box itself was a priceless treasure, that it wouldhave outshone just about any piece of jewelry besides the one inside it.

　　"I always wondered where the crown jewels disappeared to after John of England pawned them in thethirteenth century," Carlisle said. "I suppose it doesn't surprise me that the Volturi have their share."The necklace was simple—gold woven into a thick rope of a chain, almost scaled, like a smooth snakethat would curl close around the throat. One jewel hung suspended from the rope; a white diamond thesize of a golf ball.

　　The unsubtle reminder in Aro's note interested me more than the jewel. The Volturi needed to see that Iwas immortal, that the Cullens had been obedient to the Volturi's orders, and they needed to see thissoon. They could not be allowed near Forks. There was only one way to keep our life here safe.

　　"You're not going alone," Edward had insisted through his teeth, his hands clenching into fists.

　　"They won't hurt me," I'd said as soothingly as I could manage, forcing my voice to sound sure. "Theyhave no reason to. I'm a vampire. Case closed.""No. Absolutely no.""Edward, it's the only way to protect her."And he hadn't been able to argue with that. My logic was watertight.

　　Even in the short time I'............