When Jane returned from her trip to take care of the newborn problem in Seattle, he listened to her report without much interest. The only part that really caught his attention was when she mentioned the fact that Bella was still human.

Interesting, not surprising, but interesting.

He knew from what Aro had said about the boy’s thoughts that he was reluctant and apparently Edward was biding his time. He did not blame the boy for putting it off. In the end it would be one of the most difficult things he’d ever done, not because of the outcome, but because of the process itself.

The fire of transformation was a difficult thing for everyone that went through it, but he didn’t realize that watching the way Didyme suffered would be worse than his own transformation. For a few brief moments he actually pondered ending the suffering by taking her life, but in the end the desire to keep her forever at his side was just too great and he had simply held her as she went through her change.

Yes, the pain had been great, but the reward had been greater. She had become his everything.

Entering his chambers he looked around and marveled at how much the room had changed from that day long ago when she had begun her transformation. Then it had been a studio dedicated to his various artistic and scientific pursuits. He had never given much credence to the age old adage that every living space needed a woman’s touch, but she had begun to change his chambers little by little till it was a completely different space than the one she had first laid eyes on. And, even after all the time that had passed since she had passed on, he had never had the faintest desire to change it back.

Moving to his desk located at one corner of the room, the only work space in their bedchamber left, he pulled out a yellowed piece of parchment from the drawer along with a small bit of charcoal. Without much thought he started to let the sharpened black lump start to skim across the surface of the aged paper, his body hunched over the image he was creating.