Thankies for all of you who've been following this story so intently. I appreciate all the kindhearted support you give! This is the last chapter...and I hope you like it! I was thinking to do a short follow up, but idk. What do you think I should do? Hope you enjoy! Much love to each of you, from me!! (:
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Eternally Faithless, Forever Hopeful
“Are there any other reasons as to why they’re here, Edward?” Carlisle inquired hastily. “No,” Edward replied, slightly taken aback, “They don’t even care to see whether Bella’s an immortal yet or not. Actually, they want us to come to them.” Carlisle’s mouth tightened into a hard line, “That’s odd. I’ll go see what they want.” Summer pulled him back by the arm, “No, Carlisle. This obviously involves me. I’m coming with you.” Jake and Edward looked at each other and then to Carlisle, “We’ll come, too.” Jake insisted. Summer wanted to oppose, but it was too late. They walked over to a thick hedge of trees, hoping a “surprise” wasn’t waiting to attack them. Carlisle slowly rounded a large tree trunk, and there stood Caius and Marcus. “Hello, Carlisle,” Caius began, deceivingly friendly, “Wonderful. Edward picked up our mental notes.” Everyone retained their silence, simply glowering at the Volturi elders. “We want no more trouble, Caius,” Carlisle warned, “and, at the moment, you’re interrupting a very important day.” Caius nodded, “We know. Congratulations, Summer and Jacob. We’ll keep this short and to the point.” There was a heavy silence until Caius started his explanation, “As you all know, Aro is gone, and his death has left our clan in distraught. We knew you would have punished him, but we had no idea you were going to take such drastic measures. Summer, as fulfillment of Aro’s desires, we ask you for your newborn. We’ll raise the child the way Aro intended, and it will eventually claim Aro’s place as head elder.” Summer clenched her teeth. The Volturi wasn’t about to ruin the rest of her life, “What?! Caius…do you realize how idiotic you sound? Make yourself or Marcus head elder! Aro is dead, and Jake is now the father of my children. Anakin isn’t coming with you. Head back to Volterra and whine about it if you want, but you’ll never lay a hand on my kids!”

Caius laughed, “You think I was making a plea? No, no, no.” His disposition became hostile, “It was a demand. We’ll see to it that Anakin lives up to the meaning of his name.” Carlisle lifted his hand to silence the ensuing chaos, “Caius, you have no right to come to our home and treat my family in this manner. We will not hand over Anakin. We’ll strike a compromise instead.” Caius grunted, “Very well. What do YOU propose, old friend?” Summer used her shield to convey her thoughts to Carlisle, “Any alternative is going to take my baby away from me, Carlisle. I can’t do that.” “I know, dearest,” He replied, “but we must think of something that will make the Volturi believe they have a say in Anakin’s future.” “How?” Carlisle paused for a moment, “When Anakin is eighteen years of age, we explain the Volturi clan to him, take him to spend a week with them, and allow him to decided if he’d like to stay in Volterra and rule over the Volturi.”

Summer’s heart broke in two. It was the most agreeable way to mold Anakin’s future, but she was risking the chance of growing up her son without Volturi influence. She didn’t reply orally nor mentally to Carlisle. She merely nodded inertly. Carlisle explained the idea to Caius, “So, do you agree to this?” Caius glanced at Marcus, “Yes, we do. Just be certain you do not fill the boy’s head with horrible thoughts of us. “Yes, master.” Summer muttered through her teeth. Caius and Marcus bowed their heads. “See you in a few years, if you keep out of trouble.” Marcus warned. The elders left, sure not to disturb the Cullens’ peace for a while. “Come,” Edward beckoned to Jake and Summer, trying to replace the happiness, “We need to hurry if we’re going to make it on time to the airport. Alice won’t be pleased to hear you’ve missed the flight.” Summer walked alongside Jacob mutely. The car ride was peaceful and quiet, despite the upsetting emotions infusing the air. Summer hugged Edward and Bella, “Take care, sweeties.”

The airport was unusually empty, so baggage and security check was a breeze. The couple only talked about the good times of the day, steering clear of any distressing conversations. Summer fell asleep in Jake’s arms on the plane. His warmth was soothing, temporarily easing her thoughts. Landing and riding over to the hotel flew by all too soon. This was not how she envisioned her honeymoon. They checked in and followed the bellman up to the twenty-first floor. Jake pulled out a few singles from his wallet and handed it to the young man, “Thanks.” Summer unlocked the door and flipped on the light switch, “Wow…this room is huge. There’s a living room and a full-sized kitchen. Who needs that much space on a vacation, though?” Jake chuckled lowly, “That’s the most emotion you’ve shown in hours, love.” She set her bag down in the bedroom and stepped out onto the spacious patio overlooking the beach. It was a childish thought, but the strong night wind dancing through her hair made her wish she could fly away from it all. Jake walked up to her slowly and embraced her from behind, “Why are you so sad, honey?” He whispered softly, “We’re still Anakin’s parents, and we’re still going to raise him. It’s already evident his young love for you is unbreakable. He’ll never leave his family to control a gang of ruthless vampires. Have faith, sweetheart.”

Faith…faith was always the thing lacking most from Summer’s heart. She had little faith in everything, including herself. The question “what could faith do?” lurked through her mind her whole life, beginning with the death of her parents. She’d admit she was blessed in some cases, but all her life, the bad outweighed the good. That was something Jake and the Cullens could not change; something that could lead to her ultimate downfall…because she was a faithless person. She leaned back her head and gazed into Jake’s worried eyes, “I have faith, sweets,” she lied, “and I’m not about to let the Volturi ruin our life together.” Jake’s fingers played with Summer’ bouncy curls, “We’re a team now, love. You don’t have to face anything alone, counting the Volturi.” She was faithless, but thank God Jake restored a small ray of hope in her darkened heart. Summer smoothed her husband’s cheek with her thumb, wrapping her arms around his neck. She faintly smiled and intertwined her soft lips with his. She locked the doors and gently pushed him onto the bed. It was her wedding night, and she was going to make the most of it with Jake. Worry was going to stay out of her head for the remainder of her honeymoon. Although the newlywed couple refused to take note of them, many lethal dangers still lurked along the horizon. As Caius once pointed out so very sternly, The Volturi was not the forgiving type. The wise Edmund Burke put it so well; the only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
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I hope you loved it! :D I'm going to miss writing this story ): Thankies for reading, sweets. Please leave a comment <3