So I'm new at this folks … first time writing fanfic. All reviews and constructive criticism greatly appreciated. Bella and Edward are in their late 30s in this story, but I've tried to keep their characters fairly consistent with the originals, but reflective of their growing maturity. All human, and some lemons to come in later chapters, I'm sure. Thanks for your patience and input!

The mid-summer sun had long set, and the moon was making an appearance in the night sky. Its silver light streamed unobstructed through the window into the living room, making patterns on the bare wood floor. I stepped carefully around the moving boxes piled against the walls. The walls of my house.

My house.

I cocked my head toward the staircase, listening for any sound from upstairs. But there was none. Exhausted from our big move, my five-year-old daughter, Renee, was sound asleep in her new room. It had taken me a long time to settle her down tonight after the excitement of the day. But now she slept soundly, her black hair spread out on the pillow beneath her.

I stepped forward into the pool of moonlight on the living room floor, and slowly knelt, tired joints crackling. Some of my long brown hair - lightly sprinkled with grey now – slipped from its messy bun and trailed down the sides of my face. I let my fingertips brush over the smooth grain of wood floor.

I felt every one of my 37 years as I knelt there, my body aching from the efforts of the day. But the overwhelming emotion coursing through my veins was pride.

At long last, Renee and I had a home to call our own.

I knelt there for a very long time. In a previous life, I might have wept with the emotion sweeping through me. But that part of me seemed to be gone, burned away in the fires of the last four years. That which remained belonged to survival.

And survive we had.

We were finally home.