There I was, laying on my deathbed. The rhythmic beat of the heart monitor next to me was a constant reminder of where I was, why I was there and why I wasn't gonna leave it anytime soon. At least, not on my own two feet. They'd probably wheel me out on the gurney, sheet covering my entire body and face as the small world my last remaining family had, crashed and burned. It was easy to guess that life would continue on as usual for everyone else that wasn't in the room when it happened. Nurses, droids and doctors would still be roaming the halls, checking their pagers and rushing here and there...Patients would still be wheeled in and out of the hospital with concerned and worry- stricken family members jogging after them. Life would move forward without me. And why wouldn't it?

I was your average 104 year old woman, nobody special or worth noting. No Nobel prizes to claim or news articles to be written about me. I was just average. But as my small family consisting of my three children, Andromeda, Hunter and River, their children and their kids crowded around my bed- I couldn't help but feel slightly bitter about that fact.

My death would affect no one else but them in the long run, it would be like the morning breeze that you feel against your skin when you first step outside to embrace the sunrise. Insignificant. Part of me wished I had something to write home about, some grand adventure I went on to discover my "true self" or some other bullshit like that.

Where was my epic love story with a person who was made solely for me? Where was the war I played a crucial part in ending? My summons to a strange land? An all powerful mace and a fellowship on an awesome quest to destroy the One Ring of mayhem in my fantasy world? Had God forgotten to deliver it? Had it been sent to the wrong address? There has always been a problem with my mail...

But here I was, insignificant as ever- in some stuffy hospital, wearing those itchy gowns they made people wear. They always bothered me, the gaping slit at the back of my gown exposing all that cake for what it really was-FLAT-, and not to mention the fact that they crinkled and crisped like the stale Pringles my son had snuck in last night. Bah! What a nuisance.

And that numbing sterile smell of bleach and overpowering antiseptic that the staff used to wipe down every inch and corner of the hospital with? Horrid!The least they could do was use some linen spray on the bed so that it didn't smell like someone had taken a shit, farted and then sprayed ammonia on it to get out the deep stains.

The too short hospital sheet was snug around my legs from when Andy had tucked me in securely. I was uncomfortable, immensely so - but in my weakened state, I didn't move much. It was proving to be too taxing to keep my eyes open to gaze at my small family as they told me hilarious stories of their lives that I hadn't been privy to, prior to my hospitalization. And rightly so, I would have boxed Joseph for the stunts he had pulled in college with Micheal- a good family friend. And Philip! Dear goodness, that child had taken after his father more than he had even realized.

"-He thought that she was the girl he had been waiting for this whole time. He got up and walked towards me and said 'I'm choosing love over my career'. So Daniel went to the washroom and threw away all the cheating material he was carrying. Then he came back and mouthed, 'All the best' to this random chic," Philip chuckled and looked around to see the amused faces grinning back at him. I too was smiling a tiny amused smile at his attempt to get us all to laugh despite the somber feeling that clouded the tiny hospital room.

"And I kid you not, he sat and passed idiotic smiles at this same girl throughout the entire exam! And then after,when he was going to find her,he saw that she'd gotten out of the building and was hugging some guy. We found out later that the guy was her boyfriend." My children and other grandchildren busted out laughing and against my will, tired giggles rose their way out of my lips as I shifted on the cot for the thousandth time. My hair was sticking to my sweaty neck despite the freezing temperatures that circulated the hospital. I knew my time was near, but I selfishly hung on- fingers fiddling with the IV that fed the numbing drug into my veins.

Over on the floor, Willow, Laura, Winona & Connie sat playing some new computer game that Quincy had brought with her. God bless that woman, because despite my amusement at my children and grandchildren's antics, I selfishly wanted to prevent them from getting any ideas.

And then the laughs died down as my shifting brought more attention than I thought it would. Apparently, my family was paying more attention to me than I had realized.

"Why'd you stop?" I managed to croaked out, breathing hagardly through my nose. My chest ached with longing to hear them laugh again. That was the most important thing to me. I didn't want them to cry when I left, I wanted them to remember all the good times we'd shared together.

River smiled,"You okay, Ma?" he asked instead. Internally, I rolled my eyes in exasperation.I wasn't a piece of paper or a china doll. I wasn't breakable, so why did they insist on treating me like I was?

Teasingly, I flashed him the peace sign and struck a duck pose with my lips,

"Never better, my bug."

Quincy, who had been the strongest of everyone so far, finally sniffled as unshed tears began building up in her eyes. But before anyone else saw, she spun around to face the kids on the floor,

"Guys, come give Nana one more hug."

I looked at Orion then, signalling him with a jerk of my head in her direction that he should be comforting his wife instead of standing there like a dummy with his hands in his pockets and a sad frown on his face. And like always, the lazy man sighed as if I just told him to go do his chores. I smirked, it was nice to know that some things hadn't changed a bit.

"Grandma!" My youngest great grandchild,Connie, sobbed as she rushed over to me. I weakly opened my wrinkly arms, inviting her in for a hug. I sighed as the familiar scent of peaches and watermelon enveloped my over sensitive nose.Squeezing her as tight as possible, I gave as much as I got. I knew that as a great-grandma I wasn't supposed to have favorites- but Connie always had been. She was the one who had always come over on the weekends to bake apple pies with me and fetch my crochet and sewing needles wherever I had left them among the house in my forgetful state. She was the one who was the most gentle and reminded me of myself when I was her age. And with her lovely olive toned cherub cheeks and unruly curls, it was not difficult to guess why else she was my favorite.

When she let me go, I rubbed away any evidence of her tears, smiling sadly at her from my spot on the bed. " Come on, Connie-bonnie! Remember what I always say?" I asked reverently. All my children, despite their saddened gazes, smiled despite themselves,

"Always keep smiling! Someone may be falling in love with you." They echoed.

My eyes bugged as they said it in perfect unison and for a moment I had to wonder if I had given birth to twins. That was freaky, weird.

"Bah! You know all my secrets now!" I laughed shortly, summoning the last of my strength to lean up and give Connie a kiss on her forehead as her momma came to pick her up in her arms. The little sprite cried out for a moment before burying her tear stained face into her mother's shoulder.

Next were the twins, Winona and Willow- who each got a kiss and a hug before being ushered out by a distraught Leo. His tears could rival Connie's for Christ sake! Not that I blamed him- I was awesome.

...and maybe slightly conceited- but meh!

And then Laura came, the only teen in the family currently,"Don't go, please Nana! Not yet." She cried, "We still haven't climbed Mount Everest together!"

I sighed a long sigh, brushing back her lovely brown hair and gently wiping away her tears with one of my famous quilted blankets (I made the best ones, you know.)

"Oh, hush now, love. You can still go with Uncle River and your mom when they go next year!" I assured her, my voice breaking with emotion. All of these tears were really breaking my heart.

Over in the corner, Andromeda tried to muffle her sobs in William's chest, not wanting her or her daughter to see her tears. Even Will's eyes seemed a bit shinier than usual. I was torn, half of me wanted to stay while the other wanted to go. To get away from this world- to see the rest. To lie in peace without trouble and discover some of death's many secrets. I myself could say that I still kept a few and with shock I realized that I would be carrying them to my grave.

Still,I strengthened my resolve and pushed her away. I didn't want her to see me go. I wanted her to remember me as the fun grandma that took her on hikes and bought her a puppy after she lost her pet Turtle.

"Come on now. It's time for you to go." I addressed her, tilting her chin up. "Chin up, be strong." Laura sniffed, but like the soldier we all knew her to be- she nodded, straightened and walked out of the room with William and one last teary glance at my still figure on the bed. I blew a kiss to her, mouthing the words,"I love you."

And then it was just Andy, Joseph and River. They said nothing at first, mainly crying, trying not to or hiding it so well it looked as though they were sweating.

"You sure are waiting for me to go, aren't ya?" In response, Andy chuckled weakly through her tears while Joseph and River merely smiled through their pain.

"Later on, my lawyer is supposed to come by to drop off some stuff at the house. I've already decided on everything but you guys can choose if you want to sell the house or.." I told them with a yawn.

"Yea, okay." River commented, leaning back heavily onto the uncomfortable hospital chairs that they provided.

I groaned quietly as I laid back, my spine cracking from misuse. When was the last time I had gotten up on my own and used the bathroom? I was way too used to shitting in a bedpan at this point. And when was the last time I made a quilt?

Andy rushed over, dropping her used tissue into the waste bin, "Oh, mom, are you okay?"

My wizened hands raised up to stop her care attack on my wellbeing,"I'm fine- it's just that my back hurts and I haven't felt my ass in a month!" I assured her with more than a touch of sass.

The boys both laughed shortly but then sobered once Andy shot them a furious glare.

"Lighten up Andromeda, it was a joke." I snorted and then winced infantesmally when my chest ached and a pressure began to build.

With a small roll of her eyes, a begrudging smile crawled its way up her mouth."Mommy?" She began, taking a seat on the bed beside me. "I know I didn't say it alot, but I love you. We all do."

My eyes stung as I nodded shortly, seeing the true love and respect that each of my children " Take care of yourself, you hear? I'll be watching." I said instead. As I said this, I used my index and middle finger to point to my eyes before pointing it at each of them individually.

They all chuckled and I smiled once more- happy to have them laugh. Happy to see their smiles, however wet.

"Joseph, can't you tell me one last story? Make it funny though." I pouted at him through half-shut eyes. He chuckled with a raised hand to placate me. And as my other children began to focus on the tale he began to weave, my eyes shut of their own accord.

"Okay. Did I tell you guys about the time I went to that new cafe on Degrin Street?"

"Oh, I don't know- Only a hundred times!"

" I haven't heard it.."

"When do you ever hear anything, River?"

My lips twitched into one last smile as they bickered, feeling a cocoon of warmth travel from the very tips of my toes to the tippy top of my head. And then I was gone.

A blinding light eclipsed behind my eyelids and a deafening white noise resonated throughout my head- drowning out the last of my kid's voices.

The emptiness surrounded me and as overwhelming as it was- I'd never felt more at peace.

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At six fifty two pm on August the third 2098, Genevieve Morten died.

Loving mother, grandmother and great grandmother passed on to a new beginning.

A new chapter in her life

If only they knew just how much a new chapter...

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A/N: Hi, this is the first chapter of the new version of Awaiting Dusk - Edward Cullen (formerly known as Fly ~ Edward Cullen) The next few chapters may look and seem familiar, but yes- I am changing things.