Chapter Twenty
Homecoming
Grace Cullen

I knew I was pushing the limits, but I was so excited to get home that I couldn't help but push the accelerator harder. The car's speed only crept up a few more miles per hour, but I was already pushing one twenty so I couldn't really complain.

"Aunt Grace." Alice warned me, but it was already too late. Red and blue flashing lights shot out from an enclave in the trees behind me.

"Great." I muttered, knowing this would only delay us further, as I slowed the car down and pulled over to the side of the highway.

As soon as the officers cruiser parked, I saw who the offer was that stopped me, and I smiled widely to myself and jumped out of the car.

"Charlie!" I cheered, running and catching him in tight embrace. "I missed you so much." I sighed as his arms tightened around me.

"I missed you too." He chuckled, squeezing me even tighter before pulling away to wrap me up in a passionate kiss.

"Oh come on you two!" Alice laughed as she got out of the car. "We're a minute from the house, I'm excited to see my husband, let's get home and you two can resume things there." She teased us before getting back in the car.

"Can you swing by?" I asked him.

"I'll call it a wellness check." Charlie chuckled, nodding as he headed back to his cruiser.

I rushed back to the car, swung myself into the drivers seat, and took off towards the house. This time, however, going the proper speed limit. I pulled the car down the long drive and parked outside of the garage before climbing out excitedly.

I was in Carlisle's arms first, being held in a bone crushing hug as he and I talked rapidly with each other about the trip. Esme simply laughed as she stepped in and took Carlisle's place, hugging me tightly as she told me what everyone had been up to while Alice and I were gone.

"Alice!" Jasper cheered happily, running from the tree line and sweeping her up into a lovingly careful embrace. "I missed you so much Darlin'." He swore to her, putting her back down onto her feet.

"I missed you too." She smiled up at him, reaching up to move some of his blond curls back away from his face.

Charlie's cruiser finally broke through the trees and pulled to a stop behind my car, and I ran quickly over to him as he stood to his feet.

"Do you even try to drive the speed limit?" He teased me, pulling me into a sweet hug.

"I did!" I laughed at him.

"No, speed limit is 60 going through those winding trees. You had to be going 80." He laughed back at me.

"Opps." I pouted playfully at him, pulling myself out of his arms and kissing his cheek.

"Mom!" Emmett's booming voice suddenly echoed across the yard. The next thing I knew, he had grabbed me around my waist and was spinning me around.

"Alright, Emmett!" I laughed, having him set me back down. "Honestly, you're worse than a small child." I teased him as I hugged the excited looking Rosalie beside him.

"I'm just glad you're home. This poor lovestruck man has been a wreck without you." Rose teased Charlie.

"I really have." Charlie shook his head, laughing at himself, and I could help but entwine my fingers with his sweetly.

I've only been gone a week and two days, but it feels like it's been years since I've seen Charlie and my heart is overwhelmed with emotion. I suddenly felt so silly for ever laughing at Carlisle and Esme, or any of the other couples in the house for that matter, when they acted as if they hadn't seen each other in a century. I finally understood the separation anxiety.

"Alright, everyone grab a box!" Alice announced as she opened the trunk of my car. "Esme and Grace, can you two grab the dress bags in the backseat? I don't want these two ruining them." She scowled at her husband and Emmett as they eagerly (and quite rambunctiously) started grabbing boxes and bags from the trunk.

"On it!" Esme and I laughed at the same time and went to get the dress bags from the back.

Charlie was listing off every human he had managed to get an invitation to while I was gone as he followed me to the house. We had just entered the front doors when Bella and Edward met us on the stairs.

"Welcome home, Mom." Edward smiled happily at me, kissing my cheek before carefully taking the dress bag from me. "I'll take this upstairs for you." He smiled, knowing Alice and I had a lot of explaining ahead of us no doubt.

"Thank you." I smiled graciously back at him before excitedly wrapping Bella into a tight hug. "Oh, how's my girl?" I cooed, playing with her hair as we pulled apart.

"Well, she said she was going to the library." Charlie frowned playfully at Bella.

"And you're fiancé said he was going to work." She smiled teasingly at me and I giggled as Charlie looked proud of her fast response.

"Come on, let's get to the living room. We all have a lot to talk about." I explained, pulling Bella along with me while everyone else filtered into the room.

"So," Alice began "I really hate to admit this, but Grace and I weren't just picking up wedding supplies." She confessed and I felt Carlisle's hurt eyes zero in on me. "After watching the tape James made where he referenced me, I decided I wanted to know more about my past. I asked Charlie to use his database ressources to try to find me. It was a one in a million chance, but, he was able to find me." She explained.

"Off of nothing but the name Alice and a year of reference? Her name quite possibly isn't Alice at all! You were able to find on her on such little information?" Carlisle asked, sounding and looking absolutely impressed.

"Well, Alice also remembered the place she awoke along with the year. I started at the location where she awoke and used that to pinpoint a possible source based on what James said in the tape." Charlie explained casualty, as if he weren't a genius.

"My name is Mary Alice Brandon." Alice announced to the room, not being able to keep all of the information inside anymore. "My birthday is April 18, 1900 which means I was changed at twenty and I'm 105 years old. Apparently, I had an impressive knack for predicting the future as a child and scared my hometown of Biloxi, Mississippi so much that people dreaded a prediction from me. My father had my mother killed by his mob connections so he could marry his mistress in peace, but they didn't count on me seeing the hit being placed and the murder occur. From the stories, I begged my mother not to leave the house that day but she went anyway. She left my little sister Cynthia at home for me to watch just to keep me from having a meltdown about her leaving. She was forced off of the road and into a lake where she drowned. I tried telling the chief of police what had happened, but my father had already convinced him I was insane and had me sent to the Mississippi State Lunatic Asylum where I was kept in total isolation. Improper care during developmental years of my life is probably why I'm so tiny. A pitch-black cell and shock treatments over the course of six years are most likely the cause of my amnesia."

The room stayed quite for a few long moments, no one really knew what to say in response to so much new information about someone we thought we'd never know the history of.

"You're southern." Jasper chuckled quietly, breaking the tension of the room, and everyone animatedly started asking questions.

"So then how old is your sister?" Bella asked.

"She was born when I was eight and passed away not too long ago." Alice frowned. "But, I have a niece who's still alive and has a huge family!" She smiled widely.

"We actually swung by and stopped for a visit with them." I told the room. "Her niece's name is Alice Maxwell."

"Oh! She's named after you? How sweet!" Esme cooed.

"Her daughter, Marilyn, is quite intuitive it seems." I smirked. "We invited them both to the wedding and Marilyn asked me to 'thank Charlie for them' when I hadn't once said his name."

"Remarkable." Carlisle shook his head.

"Alright, I should get back on patrol before they send out a search party." Charlie chuckled, finally responding to his pager. "I'll see you all later." He told the room goodbye before kissing my cheek and heading out to his cruiser.

"He's a genius. I'm sure of it." Carlisle declared soundly. "He must have a potential gift. Something to do with his researching or detective skills."

"I don't doubt it." I agreed.

"So do we start calling you Mary Alice now?" Emmett teased Alice.

"No, I'm still Alice." She laughed at him. "Now I'm just Alice with a backstory."

"A southern backstory!" Jasper cheered. "Mary Alice from Biloxi, Mississippi. I like the ring of that darlin'." He smiled widely at her, using the full force of his accent to make the room laugh.

"You got that southern girl you wanted after all." She teased him. "Sorry, but I lost the accent." She frowned, mostly in relief.

"That's alright." Carlisle teased them both. "We're all just so glad you and Grace are home. And I'm sure we're all thrilled for you to have gotten the answers you've been missing." He smiled proudly at her.

"I'm just glad my dad can finally stop whining about how much he's missed you." Bella laughed and I couldn't help but laugh at the mental picture that created. "I should get home. It's getting late." Bella announced, leaning over to give me a hug before wishing everyone goodbye and going out to her truck.

"Oh I am so excited for this wedding!" Alice cheered as she came out of a quick vision. "Esme, Rose, come with me and I'll show you both Graces dress. It's so stunning. Better yet, Grace come along and model it for the girls." Alice demanded, grabbing my hand and tugging me upstairs with her, Esme and Rosalie laughing as they followed behind.

Everything felt so perfect as I let Esme, Alice, and Rosalie fawn over me in my dress. I even gave them a few playful spins as they giggled and clapped. I felt ridiculous in a wedding dress, knowing I should've been married centuries ago by modern standards, but I also couldn't help but be overly joyful about marrying the man of my dreams. A man I thought just simply didn't exist is in fact real and just as in love as I am.

"Oh you look like an angel!" Esme cried happily, giving me a careful hug.

"Thank you sister." I smiled at her as we pulled apart. "You should really try on your maid of honor dress. I want to make sure you love it as much as I do."

"Maid of honor!" She gasped. "Me? Grace are you sure?" She asked, already becoming excited at the idea.

"Of course! I need my sister by my side. I need my voice of reason there to promise me everything is going to be okay. I don't know what I would do without you, Esme." I swore to her.

Her response was to simply pull me into the tightest hug I had ever received from her, which quickly made Alice step in and fuss over her wrinkling my dress. I couldn't help but smile at my girls.

Later that night, sometime around ten, I slipped into the Swan house from the back door into the kitchen to avoid being seen by the neighbors. As the signature scent of wet dog and firewood washed over me, I immediately regretted my decision and wished I would've stayed home instead.

"What is she doing here?" Sam asked loudly as we made eye contact through the doorway into the living room.

Charlie's wide brown eyes peered around the corner and gave me a warning look before he turned back to Sam. "She's my fiancée. She's welcome here at anytime, unlike a certain group of troublemakers standing in my living room." He grumbled as I entered the room and cautiously went to stand behind his chair.

My instincts went haywire as I took in the three boys flanking Sam as he stood behind Billy's wheelchair. If there are four shapeshifters, that means they've added one in the short few months since Charlie and I's first official date. Only three had shown up to throw me out of La Push. My skin crawled at the thought of their tribe growing without our knowledge.

Their positions were hostile as they glared dangerously at myself and Charlie. By the tension already in the room before I arrived, I got the sudden epiphany that this was not a social visit.

"We're not trying to cause trouble here, Chief Swan." Sam retorted, his deep voice giving off a tone that said otherwise. "We're trying to protect you and Bella."

"We don't need protection." Charlie shook his head. "The Cullens would never hurt a human, let alone myself or Bella."

"Charlie, we've been friends since we were kids, listen to me, please." Billy begged him, and my heart actually hurt for him.

He's concerned for his childhood best friend and wants to do everything he can to take care of him. It's sweet, but it's entirely unnecessary to 'protect' him from the woman who loves him more than anything else in her existence.

"Billy, for the last time, Grace and I are getting married and that's the end of the conversation. I know you mean well, but this stupid grudge is getting tiresome." Charlie sighed. "I'm not going to apologize for loving someone." He spoke soundly, and that was the end of the conversation.

"I would be careful if I were you, Charles." Billy warned him ominously as Sam wheeled him out.

"Cullen scum." Paul spit at me and Charlie leapt onto his feet in anger.

Paul, Embry, and Jared all rushed out of the house after Sam amd Billy in fear as Charlie stalked towards them. He slammed the door loudly behind them before slumping against it in defeat.

"I'm sorry." I sighed, going over and leaning on the banister of the stairs across from him. "I know how much Billy and Harry mean to you."

"Yeah, they mean a lot." He nodded. "But, I've always been the outsider and now I know why. I wasn't apart of the tribe, I get that, but if they think that they can include me now as a way to scare me out of marrying you...they're very wrong." He muttered darkly.

"Dad? Is the coast clear?" Bella called out from the top of the stairs.

"Yeah, sorry Bells." He responded and she came down the stairs.

"Oh, hey Grace." She greeted me, giving me a half-hug as she leant against the banister beside me. "I didn't know you were here."

"I managed to slip in at the worst possible time." I smirked at her. "My timing has always been off apparently."

"What do you mean?" Charlie grinned at me.

"Well, it has taken me three hundred and sixty-seven years to get married." I laughed, stepping across the hall to wrap my arms around his waist. He and Bella laughed at me, so I knew I had succeeded in lightening the mood. "I hate that you two are having such a hard time with the La Push gang and the town of Forks, but that just makes me love you both even more." I smiled at them both.

"Swans are tough stock." Charlie nodded, putting an arm around my shoulder. "We'll be fine. Won't we, best man?" Charlie asked Bella, hitting her shoulder playfully.

"Best man? You want me to be your best man?" Bella smiled doubtfully at him.

"Of course." Charlie nodded.

"Why?" She laughed at the idea.

"Because I need my girl by my side. It's a big deal, and I don't want to waste it on someone else. You're the most important person in my life, Bella." He told her truthfully. "So, what do you say?" He smiled at her.

"Hell yeah!" She leapt across the short distance and caught him in a fierce hug.

I laughed as I put my arms around her and Charlie both, overjoyed to be welcoming such a happy new chapter of my life.