XLIII. My soulmate.

I blinked and Edward's hand tightened around mine, giving me an assuring squeeze. My gaze turned to Aro and I saw his gaze divert from Alice. He looked at me and I could see the regret in his eyes, the regret of ever letting me live. Now, the girl he let live out of pure fascination for her abilities was the woman who would mock him as she set him ablaze.

"Now you know. That's your future. Unless you decide on another course." Alice informed Aro as she pulled her hand away from him.

"We cannot alter our course. The child still poses a grave threat." Caius argued as he glared at Aro with murderous eyes. He came here to kill and that was what he wanted. If only he was as wise as Aro, and knew what he would suffer in the hands of Kate and Tanya.

Edward let go of my hand and took a few steps forward. "But what if you were sure she could remain concealed from the human world? Could we leave in peace?" he questioned the Volturi.

"Of course," Caius replied as he gave a curt nod of his head, his voice set in a tense frown. "But that cannot be known," he argued as he shook his head.

"Actually, it can," Edward replied as a little smirk tugged at his lips. My eyebrows furrowed and I glanced at my husband with confusion.

"I've been searching for witnesses of my own among the Ticuna tribes of Brazil," Alice explained and my head snapped to the side when footsteps approached from the distance.

A man and woman of Indian descent began walking towards the Volturi. The man was distinctively a lot like Delia. He had a heartbeat, blood running through his veins, air flowing through his lungs, but it was very different from a human's. And the woman with him was a vampire; her tanned skin was porcelain perfect, her eyes red, no heart beating in her chest, and no blood nor air flowing through her.

"We have enough witnesses." Caius snapped in irritation when the man and woman came to a stop in front of them.

"Let him speak, brother." Aro urged as he held up a hand to silence Caius. He was weary and unsettled by what Alice had shown him.

"I am Nahuel" The man spoke up as he stood before Aro. "I am half human, half vampire. Like the child," he explained as he motioned back to Delia. "A vampire seduced my mother, who died giving birth to me." he continued before motioning towards the woman beside him. "My aunt Huilen raised me as her own. I made her immortal."

I stared at Nahuel, my eyes wide and filled with hope. "How old are you?" I asked him while clutching onto my daughter's hand.

Nahuel turned around and looked at me from the long distance. "A hundred and fifty years," he replied and my eyebrows raised. That was old. Old enough to give me hope that I'd have my little girl for a very long time.

"At what age did you reach maturity?" Aro questioned.

Nahuel turned back to face Aro. !I became full-grown twenty-one years after my birth. I have not changed since then." he explained.

"And your diet?" Aro questioned as he raised his eyebrows, clasping his hands together in front of himself.

"Blood, human food. I can survive on either." Nahuel explained as he shrugged his shoulders.

"These children are much like us," Marcus claimed as he looked at Aro and Aro nodded in agreement.

"Regardless, the Cullens have been consorting with werewolves. Our natural enemies." Caius argued, grasping at reasons for us to be punished.

Aro turned to face the Volturi and its witnesses. "Dear ones, there is no danger here. We will not fight today," he replied as he shook his head, and immediately, the Volturi's forms, ready to attack, straightened out.

I watched in silence as the Volturi, the guard, and the witnesses all turned and left without saying anything else. I still held onto my daughter, uncertain if this was truly over. But I suppose staring death in the face had truly shaken Aro.

"We have them on the run. Now is the time to attack." Vladimir insisted as he and Stefan moved to the front of the group.

Carlisle looked between the two of them. "Not today," he claimed.

"You're all fools!" Vladimir yelled as everyone turned around and began to walk away from the empty battlefield. "The Volturi might be gone. But they will never forgive what happened here," he warned everyone.

Delia looked up, her gaze flicking from me to Edward as he approached us. "Does this mean I don't have to leave you?" she asked softly as her hand instinctively went to the necklace we had given her for Christmas.

"It does sweetheart," I replied softly as I crouched down in front of Delia. "You're not going anywhere, ever," I assured as I reached out and tugged a strand of her hair behind her ear. "You'll be with us forever."

"You're going to get tired of us one day, but we're not going anywhere, princess," Edward replied teasingly as he reached out and ran a hand over Delia's hair before crouching down beside me.

"I'll never be tired of you," she replied quickly as she shook her head before throwing her arms around both me and Edward. "I love you too much," she whispered as her head nuzzled between my and Edward's.

"We love you too, Lia," I whispered back as I wrapped my arm around her. Edward's arms wrapped around me and our daughter, pulling us both closely to his chest where he held us for a moment.

We returned to the house and most of the vampires began to say their goodbyes and leave. Delia wasn't too happy to let Zafrina go and it took Rosalie to bribe the little girl with candy to let go of the Amazodian.

"You must bring the little one to see me some time." Zafrina insisted as she watched Delia stand with Rosalie and Emmett near the house.

"She already has plans." I mused softly as I nodded my head."Soon you'll get tired of her." I teased as I wrapped my arms over my chest.

"No one can get tired of that sweet face." Zafrina argued with a soft laugh as she shook her head "Practice what I have taught you." she reminded me as she nodded.

"I will," I replied as I nodded as well. "Thank you for being such a patient teacher," I told her and she smiled at me before turning around and walking away with the rest of her clan.

Edward approached me and we shared a soft and small smile. "How are you feeling?" he asked softly as he reached out and cupped the side of my face.

I reached up and placed my hand over his while my gaze diverted to Delia in the distance. "I can't explain how happy I am that she's gonna be with us forever." I replied softly as my smile grew a little."I hate that she'll grow so fast. But at least she'll be with us."

"This means I'm going to have to fend off boys for eternity," Edward replied as he moved his hand off my cheek and wrapped his arm around my shoulders, pulling me into his side.

I laughed softly at his statement, placing my hand on his chest. "She'll find her mate one day," I told him softly.

He hummed softly, his gaze shifting to Jacob, Embry, and Quill, who stood on the porch. "As long as he's not a mutt," he grumbled softly.

I looked up at Edward and quirked an eyebrow. "Your mate was human." I reminded him as my head tilted to the side.

"Even a human is better than a dog." he reasoned as he looked down at me with raised eyebrows.

I snorted in amusement and rolled my eyes lightly at him. "You can't deny that Jake has been there for her. Dog or not, she loves him." I claimed softly as I watched Delia jog towards the wolves, looking for trouble with them.

"Jacob, we'll keep around," Edward replied as he nodded his head, and slowly, my gaze drifted towards him, my eyebrows raising. "That's the only non-family boy she can have in her life. And Quill," he stated. "Maybe Embry and Seth."

"Oh, you're already in protective dad mode?" I questioned him playfully as a grin spread across my face.

"Since the second she was born," Edward replied softly as he kissed the top of my head and my smile softened as I tilted my head back, catching his second kiss on my lips.

Jacob approached us, his hands shoved into the pockets of his shorts. "So it's gonna be boring around here for a while?" he questioned.

"Hopefully a long while." I corrected him as I nodded my head. "I think we're due," I mumbled softly as my lips pulled into a tight line.

"We're definitely due." Edward agreed as he nodded his head.

"Well, I'll see you guys tomorrow," Jacob replied, and we waved him off as he and the other two wolves went into the forest, disappearing through the three lines.

"Daddy!" Delia called out as she ran over towards us and a big smile spread across Edward's face as he opened his arms, catching his little girl in a big hug. "Can we go home now?" She asked softly, her eyes already fluttering tiredly.

"Yeah, of course sweetheart." I agreed as I reached out to run a hand through her hair.

Together the three of us returned to our cottage where we spend a nice afternoon relaxing, taking in the calm after the storm had blown over.

When my mother and Charlie returned from their fishing trip, I took Delia to see them. The second Edward got the little girl out of the backseat, she was running up the porch steps. "Nana Elle!" she squealed in excitement.

"Oh, there's my sweetheart." My mother said in delight as she picked up Delia and hugged her tight.

"How was your fishing trip?" I questioned as me and Edward walked up the porch steps.

"Really good." my mom replied, a nervous smile on her face as she put Delia down on the ground. "I want to share something with you," she told me as she nodded to the corner of the porch.

I smiled and turned to my husband, sharing a knowing look with him. Edward took Delia's hand and led her into the house, giving me and my mother some privacy. I turned to her, grinning softly. "Charlie asked you to marry him," I claimed.

"How did you know?" My mom questioned as her eyes widened in shock.

"Because he asked me if I could," I explained with a shrug of my shoulders before taking my mother's left hand and lifting it up to see the simple and elegant silver diamond ring. "And I, of course, gave him my blessing."

"You're really alright with this?" She asked me softly as her eyebrows furrowed.

I looked at her, smiling softly. "Does he make you happy?" I asked as I raised my eyebrows.

"So much." She admitted as she nodded her head.

"Then I'm more than alright with this," I assured her as I nodded my head. My gaze lowered to the ring and I brushed a finger over the diamond. "It's beautiful, mom." I whispered.

She silently stared at me for a moment before grinning. "I told you, sweetheart." She said as she wrapped her arms around me and pulled me into a hug.

I smiled knowingly as I hugged her back. "This move would be good for us," I said before she had a chance, and she laughed softly as she nodded.

Months later, after everything had settled and a new year had come, I and Edward found ourselves one peaceful morning, sitting in the meadow. Delia was not too far from us, picking as many flowers as she possibly could hold in her hands.

I turned to my husband with a somewhat giddy smile. "I wanna show you something," I told him.

Edward looked at me, sensing my excitement, and he couldn't help but smile. "What?" he asked curiously.

I took a deep breath and narrowed my eyes, focusing hard to lift my shield. At first, Edward only caught flickers of memories and thoughts here and there. Then he got more. He got all of it. Every memory, since our first, that we shared, my very first thoughts on him, my love and adoration for him now. Everything.

I could only hold it for a few minutes before my shield snapped back in place and Edward was cut off again. "How did you do that?" He asked as he looked at me with wonder and amazement.

"Been practicing," I explained proudly as I shrugged my shoulders. "Now you know. Nobody's ever loved anybody as much as I love you." I told him softly.

"There's one exception," he replied softly, and I smiled as I nodded slowly, knowing he referred to his love for me and the love we shared for our daughter. He leaned forward, pressing a few soft kisses to my lips. "Will you show me again?" he asked.

I chuckled softly as I tilted my head back to look at him. "We've got a lotta time," I assured him.

"Forever." He whispered before pressing another kiss to my lips.

"Forever," I mumbled against his lips.

Delia came bouncing up to us and fell onto her father's lap, settling in as she sprinkled flowers everywhere. A big grin spread across my face, watching my little girl's innocent playfulness as she giggled.

My gaze diverted to Edward and I watched him for a moment. I was so grateful for how far we had come. For the memories, both good and bad, that we shared. We had faced so much together, even when he was s far away from me at one point...we had some hard times, but I could only be thankful that everything I faced was with him.

My soulmate.

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Do not read the epilogue if you do not want a sad ending to this book!!!