Noonday Sun: A Post-Breaking Dawn Twilight Fanfiction

Chapter 13, Life Happens

Chapter 13, Life Happens

Conversations flowed around me in the Challenger. I was trying to figure out how to tell Edward about my preparations for a Volturi battle.

He would be distraught. Every approach I could think of resulted in one thing: Edward's anger. Stress immobilized me. Jasper looked up, sensing my agitation. I couldn't control the peace that enveloped me. I smiled tremulously at Jasper. I didn't want to feel apprehensive about Edward's return.

I stared out the window as we approached Seattle. The Needle towered above the city. I thought again about Esme's words as we were admiring the Northern Lights. The city spread out before me, but it was so much smaller than the vast universe. Surely the hand that created the incredible beauty in the universe was a loving one.

I had never prayed in my life, but I found myself praying for the success of my venture. I couldn't help but think a loving hand had helped us during our first battle with the Volturi. Surely my shield had fit into the order of the universe somehow. Perhaps my reading the article on antibodies was not an accident.

I silently reviewed all the moments in my life that must've had some divine intervention. From before my birth, even. Edward's creation enabled him to live until I arrived on this planet. My deciding to live with Charlie, a totally unlikely event, had put me where we could meet. My dad being best friends with Billy, Jacob's father. Jacob imprinting on Nessie. The list went on and on.

Was my life any less ordered than the planets that revolved around the sun? Who was I that whatever being created the universe would care about me? But the evidence was so clear—like Esme had said. Anyone seeing the Vanquish could see intelligent engineering at work.

Here I was looking at my own life, and I could see intelligent engineering at work. I was just the frame of a car, though. I had no idea what my ending would be. I would need to wait for the engineer to decide where all the parts would fit and just hope that I was making the decisions in my life that would help the engineer and not hinder him.

I shook my head, dazed. These thoughts were so much bigger than I was.

The landing gear touched down. I smiled at the heavy cloud cover. "You were right, as usual."

Alice smiled smugly. The smile quickly turned to a frown. "I just wish I could see Jacob and Nessie." She sighed. "The holes in my vision are annoying. I'm having a hard time seeing much of any future right now."

I didn't have time to think about that. The Challenger had pulled to a stop and we were getting ready to unload.

I was glad we didn't have to deal with security on the way out.

Jacob's Escalade was easy to find. We piled in quickly and were headed to Forks before one in the afternoon. I would have plenty of time to miss Edward before he arrived Sunday morning.

As we were driving up the long Cullen drive, I addressed Jacob, "How would you and Nessie like to visit Sue and Charlie?"

Jacob replied, "Sounds fun, but why today?"

"I haven't seen Dad in a while. It will give me something to do while Edward is gone."

He nodded, his understanding a comfort.

I peeked at Esme. I was sure she was missing Carlisle. She was staring out the car window. She sensed my gaze and turned to look at me. "I'll plan on having dinner ready at seven this evening. That should give you enough time with your dad."

"Thanks, Esme." The Escalade had stopped. I waited for the Cullens to climb out, then moved up to the seat behind Nessie.

I was quiet until we were heading into Forks. "School starts next Wednesday. How are you feeling about it, Nessie?" I already knew how Jacob felt. He hadn't changed from his earlier days when we'd been hanging out. I smiled. Nessie would have to keep him in tow on this one.