ᴀʜʜʜʜʜ! ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ³⁰! ɪ'ᴠᴇ ᴅᴇᴄɪᴅᴇᴅ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ɪ ᴡɪʟʟ ᴡʀᴀᴘ ᴛʜɪꜱ ʙᴏᴏᴋ ᴜᴘ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ɴᴇxᴛ ¹⁹ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀꜱ! ɢᴇᴛ ʀᴇᴀᴅʏ ꜰᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇ ɴᴇxᴛ ʙᴏᴏᴋ ᴀꜱ ᴡᴇʟʟ! ɪ ɴᴇᴠᴇʀ ᴡʀɪᴛᴇ ᴏɴᴇ ᴏꜰꜰ ʙᴏᴏᴋꜱ ʙᴇᴄᴀᴜꜱᴇ ɪ ɢᴇᴛ ᴡᴀʏ ᴛᴏᴏ ᴀᴛᴛᴀᴄʜᴇᴅ, ꜱᴏ ʙᴇ ʀᴇᴀᴅʏ ꜰᴏʀ ᴍᴏʀᴇ!

ꜱᴏʀʀʏ ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ ᴍʏ ʟᴀᴄᴋ ᴏꜰ ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇꜱ ᴏɴ ꜱᴏᴍᴇ ʙᴏᴏᴋꜱ, ɪ ᴊᴜꜱᴛ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ʟᴇꜱꜱ ᴍᴏᴛɪᴠᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ᴏʀ ɪᴅᴇᴀꜱ ꜰᴏʀ ꜱᴏᴍᴇ ꜱᴛᴏʀɪᴇꜱ.

ʟᴇɢɪᴛ ᴡʀᴏᴛᴇ ʜᴀʟꜰ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜɪꜱ ʏᴇꜱᴛᴇʀᴅᴀʏ ᴀɴᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ᴏᴛʜᴇʀ ʜᴀʟꜰ ᴛᴏᴅᴀʏ ꜱᴏ ᴡʜᴏᴏᴘꜱ-

The next day had been one of great joy for the entire Volturi. While so many vampires were waiting for their trials, we allowed ourselves to have some alone time with the new baby, giving him a chance to get to know his new siblings. All of our Coven opened up to the prospects of having a little one running around the castle. They might have picked up on the fact that Aro and Marcus could not get their slimy little hands off of the baby as well.

Upsetting the two of them would mean destruction.

"So are you going to just sit there and hold your brother or are you going to help?" Caius sneers at Jane, who was happily holding Helios, who was very much happy to be held by her. The blonde girl gave Caius a bitchy look before nodding. My blonde mate growls and storms off to some unknown place. Oh, who was I kidding, he was probably going to cool down in the nest. Just the usual in the Volturi household.

"Is he going to keep on denying the fact that he loves Helios or is he going to start to cuddle him like you and dad do?" Alec asks from the other corner of the room, bringing his sister and Helios blood bags. The two of them drink up, both thanking him in their own ways.

"Most likely the first option for the next few hours and after that the second. He can't deny that his son is the cutest thing that has ever come into existence," I silently swoon as Helios waves his hands at me, almost as if he was trying to call me over to him.

"That is impossible, tesoro, you exist. Two cannot be at the top," Marcus argues, speeding to my side, handing me a letter.

"Who is still sending me letters?" I question.

"Likely Carlisle. He always sends letters. I don't think the man will ever truly get used to just calling us when he wants to speak," Marcus says.

I opened up the message, which was in fact addressed to me, from Carlisle. Does he always write the Volturi in Italian? Is this going to be the norm? Likely. Can't you give me a clear cut answer on this one? Nothing is clear cut when it comes to the future. You sound like Alice now. Don't compare me to her. Okay then, oh pushy one.

To my dearest Queen,

I would like to formally apologize for the actions of my son and sired, Edward Cullen. I will be forever grateful to you and your mate, our king, for not choosing to kill him for his treasonous act. While our relations may be strained at the moment, I do hope that things will be better in the future. I would not wish to see any more secrets between us.

For the longest time I have wished to meet a person such as yourself. Even through everything, you have powered through. No, this is not me filling your ego in order to save my own skin. I am just afraid that the harsh words that Edward has spoken to you, while untrue, could someday hit you emotionally the way that you hit him in the face.

This may be unprofessional of me, but good job on putting him in his place better than I ever could. I do believe that you have given him better discipline than myself. I will work with him on respect when I get the chance.

I know that you know about the wedding. They are refusing to even send a letter to inform you of the occasion, claiming that you could somehow show up and ruin the entire event. These ideas are ridiculous and baseless. You have much better things to do than going to the wedding of people that have spoken so ill on your behalf. I know that you have mates to tend to and a world to run.

Alice did say that she saw something that did relate to you, but did not actually feature you. She says that she saw a few of the guards holding a crown. Neither I or she have any idea of what that means.

I would not wish to impose, but have the kings perhaps proposed marriage or your official coronation? They have not had a coronation since they coronated themselves over two thousand years ago.

I do wish that your time in Volterra has been spent happily and with people that you care about.

Always good regards,

Carlisle Cullen

I laugh at the question placed in the letter. Marriage, Carlisle? I mean, the answer is no, but I would say that I have no idea if they are planning anything. Maeve, please? Don't ask me. That wasn't a yes or a no. It was me telling you to fuck off but like take it as you will. Don't be mean, Maeve. Sorry, your mind is just filled with stupidly happy coos right now and I have no clue how to shut it all off. Well figure out how to work my mind because I can't do it myself.

Marcus takes a peek at the letter and laughs awkwardly.

"I don't think I've ever seen Carlisle act so boldly in the time that I have known him. Though, it should just mean that he is comfortable around you. Your bond is quite strong with him," Marcus informs.

"Honestly, I don't think he's ever been so bold with me either. Must be the pressure of the wedding, Carlisle doesn't bud into people's business," I suggest. Marcus nods, taking the letter, putting it back inside the envelope. "He doesn't want any secrets, yet we have so many right now."

"He will understand the secrecy, just like you understood him. If any more of his kind are out there, they are in hiding and have not been seen by any of our own. Aro has read Carlisle, the man has no knowledge of this either. Who knows what his reaction would be if you just told him that you, as a newborn vampire, watched a woman die giving birth to a hybrid child," Marcus points out. I nod, knowing that he was right. I just wish that it didn't have to be like this.

My mate kisses my head before walking me to our son, who was giggling like crazy with Jane and Alec. The twins hugged the baby boy and kissed his cheek before Jane picked him up and sped him over to me. I smiled at her and held my baby in my arms.

He was really the sweetest thing that I had ever seen. His happy nature could make anyone around him happy. It was unlike anything I had seen in a vampire or a human. His ability to make people happy with one look could almost be considered a gift. Although whether or not it was a gift or not would remain unknown until Maeve told me more about him and what he would grow up to be.

"Do you think that Akila and Harb can take them right now?" I ask my mate, who nods. "Although I don't want to be a bother-"

"Tesoro, they love to watch him. They did so this morning and they can again," Marcus assures me. I nod, running over to Akila's room. I could hear the nice sound of friendly chatter inside. I knock, of course, before waiting for them to open the door.

Akila came to the door and giggled when she saw that it was her turn to take care of the little munchkin in my arms. Aaron smiled as his mate cooed at Helios, giving him a grin. Jesus, this kid is going to be the most spoiled hybrid that the world has ever seen. Most definitely the most spoiled out of all hybrids. Wait, so there are more hybrids? Duh. I mean, how do you think the Romanians figured out that having sex with a human woman would work? Idk, I thought they were just raping bastards who got off on that sort of shit. I mean, you aren't wrong. Fuck thats messed up. You can kill em later.

"Little Helios, you just are the cutest thing on the planet," Akila cooed.

"I do hope that he has the memory of a vampire and can hear you," Harb mutters from across the room, "It would be funny to remember all of the things your family did when you were a baby."

"Imagine remembering your birth," I cringed at the thought. "That would suck. I mean, he wasn't crying, but I doubt he was happy to see all the blood and gore around him."

"Let's not think about that, tesoro," Marcus urges me to stop, "It is not necessary to dwell on such things."

"No, of course not."

__________________________________________________

It would simply be rude not to write a well-sized letter back to one of my favorite members of the Olympic Coven, especially when he had asked me such an interesting question. For what to write, I had to think about it for a while, going over what and how I was going to write this letter. Everything had changed, yet he knew nothing of it.

The battle with the Romanians had been broadcasted, but no vampire outside of the Volturi knew about the existence of the hybrid in our midst. Hell, no vampire that we had ever met would even know about his species being possible.

At that, I began writing away, attempting to hold back as much information as possible without sounding rushed or rude.

Dear Carlisle,

Marcus and I actually found it quite funny that you would ask such a question, as you are often one of the most non intrusive men we have ever met. Although most would find such a question odd, I should expect nothing less from Alice than to share her vision of what she saw in my future.

Alas, no proposition of marriage has been given to me by my mates, although I would say yes if they did ask me for my hand in such a way. I think that you already know that. There will be no coronation in the near future, as we are still riding off the high of the defeat of the Romanians, a people that have broken so many laws and were trying to overthrow us, albeit terribly. I mean, who leaves the Immortal Children with no newborn guards? It was simply easy for us to go in and take out the singular woman they had in charge of those children. I would hope better from a people who did wish to lead our world into chaos. The planning was simply dreadful.

Your apologies on behalf of your son are not necessary. Edward, although both physically and mentally 17, is an adult capable of making his own decisions. If he steps one toe out of line again, I will make sure that he meets a swift end. Even if he is your son, as you know already, he will never be above the law. In the end, nobody can be above the law, even if it means that we take out people that we once cared about.

The fact that the seer has not already put out the idea of my arrival to the wedding between Edward and Bella is quite alarming, as them making such accusations would surely mean that Alice has seen something. No plans to interrupt the wedding on my or any of my coven's part, we just simply wish for the law to be upheld and for the girl to be turned. I know that Edward does not want her turned, but he will just have to suck it up or face the consequences.

I do wish that I could see you again soon, but as you would know, the Volturi are a busy people and we will have backed up trials once our few weeks of rest are over. To see you happy and well with your family is what I desire most, as you have and will always be my first father figure. You deserve all of the happiness in the world, Carlisle.

Never let anyone take away the kindness that you show others,

Annalise Volturi, Queen of Vampires and Queen of the Volturi

The letter had become quite long with my large cursive handwriting, spreading out over three pages, but it was in essence quite short and quick to get to the point. Good wishes and all, my one greatest dream now had been changed from when I had last seen Carlisle.

My memories now faded and quite literally broken into small fragments, I allowed myself to close the letter with purple wax and the Volturi seal.