Dear Diary: May 15, 2013

So it seems like we've gone back to having quiet times around Hanover as well as around our house. We like times like that. When there isn't any drama or something bad happening. Charlie and Sue stayed with us for 4 days total. They spent most of the time with their children. The Watchers had been keeping to themselves and doing lord knows what. The only ones that had any contact with the Watchers were Seth and Leah as they had imprinted. Charlie got a chance to really spend time with Bella and Nessie because the former was done with her first year at Dartmouth. Even without Edward's help, she finished her freshman year with a 3.8 GPA.

Charlie was very proud of her for that; we all were. I wasn't worried about Edward, Rose, or Emmett's grades as they've already been to college multiple times. Emmett was happy with his 3.1 GPA and Bella got to tease him about how they should make a bet for next year to see who can get the highest one. Whoever wins gets bragging rights for the rest of the summer. Everyone except Rose--for obvious reasons--had their money on Bella. Nessie wasn't far off. Even with Esme teaching as opposed to a real classroom, Nessie was pulling in all A's in every class. Michelle was following close behind but there wasn't a competition with them. After all, Michelle has gone to high school many times over her 500 years as a Watcher and it was Nessie's first time.

Nessie wanted to get into Dartmouth as well; she figured we would still be living here 3 years from now. She had time to look around for schools because she was only finishing her freshman year in high school after all. Out of the wolves, Seth had the highest grades. Leah wasn't doing too badly either with only 3 C's on her last report card. Jacob was the only one slacking off. But Nessie has taken it upon herself to make sure his grades improve. His argument? He had eternity to do well in high school. Her response?

"You want to join me in college, don't you? Or should I just go alone?"

He couldn't argue with that one. There was no way in hell he would let her go off to college alone, especially with his jealousy streak. Corin and Keith were waiting for Seth and Leah to graduate from high school in order to join them in college. They'd both been to colleges around the world but it would be much more fun to go with their significant others now that they had them. Jasper and Alice have decided not to go back to school so when people at the hospital ask what they do for a living, I always say that they are in finance and that their jobs require them to travel a lot. Both know more than enough on the subject that if questioned, could have an intelligent discussion on everything from hedge funds to the stock market. Jasper is well versed in current events especially politics and Alice is a whizz with the stocks. I mean how do you think we ended up with as much money as we have?

New Hampshire recently did a census on richest residents in the state. Our family was at #2 and that was the tip of the iceberg, but the humans didn't know that. If they knew the real amount of our fortune, we'd probably rank one of the richest families in the world let alone the state. But who's counting? We're not. For us money is part of immortality. We need to be able to move around the world ever 5 to 7 years and with our ever growing family, money is a huge part of that. Recently, Alice and Amy sat down to discuss finances and from what Alice had gathered, the Watchers aren't poor either. In fact and though Amy didn't go into full detail, Alice figured out that their fortune is larger than ours. That's understandable, considering they've been around for something like 3,000 years.

For us that's not the most important thing. As long as everyone is healthy, happy, and safe; that's the most crucial thing. Now with the Volturi gone permanently, we don't have to worry about walking on eggshells with Aro's as Jacob calls it "bullshit". The Watchers are on our side and there are enough of them to make sure all of the vampires of the world behave. I kind of don't even want to imagine what would happen if the vampires don't. I remember.....we all remember what happened to the Volturi and how it happened. We've also witnessed a lot though nowhere near all of the powers the Watchers possess.

Speaking of which, before Charlie and Sue left for home, Rogue and Alexander showed them how they flew around, while we vampires and wolves respectively showed them how we run. I know that Sue already knew the wolves' way of transportation but she thought it was really neat about the other two ways. Both however, said that flying was their favorite. We didn't take offense as we also agreed with them. I wish vampires could fly. But running is fun too; as are jumping and leaping.

The other thing we showed our human visitors was how we sparkle in the sun. Charlie was the most amazed by that. He wanted Bella to show him which she did. It was really interesting to see that Bella was still apprehensive about showing Charlie different aspects of her new self. She was still waiting for the other shoe to drop and for him to not accept her. Finally, because Charlie felt something was off, he took her by the arm and led her away from us to have a one on one conversation. He wanted her to understand once and for all that he accepted her. And he thought she was really beautiful when she sparkled. He did say us male vampires sparkling was creepy but women were beautiful. To which Emmett grumbled:

"Whatever blows your skirt up."

He was instantly chided by Esme for being rude. Charlie just waved at him like it didn't matter. Emmett was sometimes like a giant child. So finally Charlie and Sue were ready to leave. Bella and Leah drove them to the airport. With another round of hugs and well wishes, they were off back to the west coast and to where they belonged. After waving them off, Bella and Leah got back into the car. Both were quiet. They were never particularly close but Leah has been trying. So she decided to talk to Bella now while they were alone.

"Hey Bella?"

"Yeah?"

"Listen.....um.....I'm sorry."

"What for? You don't have to apologize for anything."

"Yeah I do. I was always rude to you. And you didn't deserve that, you were always nice to me. Even when you were human. You didn't do anything to me. I was just angry at Sam and angry at the vampires and just angry at the world I guess. Plus losing my father and that took forever to get over."

Leah blew a breath out and stared out the window. She was silent for a moment. Bella pulled the car over to the side of the road and put it into park. She then turned toward Leah with wide eyes and waited for her to speak. Leah spoke again while still looking out toward the mountains in the distance:

"You know, for a long time I blamed myself for my father's death."

"Whoa. No way. You have to know it wasn't your fault."

"Yeah I finally came to peace with it. Seth and I talked about it a lot. And I spoke about it with Keith too. They both helped me understand that part."

"I'm glad." Bella said with a small smile.

"Me too." Leah smiled back.

Then the smile faded as she remembered what she really wanted to say.

"So anyways, I was angry at everyone, even at myself. I felt like I was some sort of reject, that no one wanted me nor would anyone ever want me. So I was angry at the vampires for taking Sam away from me. But now, I've been thinking and I realized if it wasn't for this life I have, I would never have met Keith. Would have never imprinted. Who knew who I would have imprinted on if at all? Or if the Cullen's had left and we stopped phasing, who knew if I would have fallen in love the natural way? There is a lot of uncertainty there. And I don't like it and now I don't have to deal with it. Sam is happy with who he is supposed to be with and now so am I."

"I guess what I'm trying to say is, that I'm sorry I was such a bitch for all of these years to you, Bella. You didn't deserve it. I really want for us to develop a friendship. I love Nessie like she's my own sister. And Nessie is a part of you. She came out of you. You really are a good person, Bella. You always were. It just took my pigheadedness a while to figure it out." She said through tears that had formed in her eyes.

"Oh wow, Leah......I.......I......of course I forgive you! I never blamed you for anything. I always knew you got the short end of the stick and it wasn't fair to you. I am very happy that you and Nessie are getting along so well. The more female influences she has in her life, the better. Especially positive ones. And I would love to get to know you better and spend more time together. Maybe we can even boycott Alice's shopping trips together!" Bella said with a laugh. Leah laughed too at that.

"Oh you're so on with that! I hate shopping!" Leah said.

"Perfect! A partner in crime! I think we can get Rogue on board too. She doesn't seem too excited each time Alice squeaks about shopping! Hahahahaha!"

The two of them giggled and then hugged. Leah wiped her tears and Bella blinked through hers. They were ready to go home. Bella put the car into drive and got back on the road. They got home and walked into the house. Alice, who hadn't seen anything because she can't see past wolves, looked at them in surprise and when she finally figured out what had been decided, she growled at them. Bella and Leah both stuck their tongues out at her in unison and then burst out laughing. The rest of the family was surprised at their cheerfulness. Obviously, something had gone down on the way home but neither Bella nor Leah said a word. They just walked into the kitchen without saying anything and started helping Esme make dinner. Leah had wanted to learn how to cook anyway and this was the perfect opportunity for her to A) learn and B) bond with Bella. Kill two birds with one stone.

Edward knew what was going on and walked over to me, he whispered what he knew and I smiled in response. I was very happy they put their differences aside and decided to move forward. I thought it was very big of Leah to step up to the plate and apologize. I kept smiling and nodding my head.

These were times for peace, quiet, and forgiveness.

~Carlisle Cullen