Rosalie helped, all right.  Most of this whole story line was written to confront how stalking someone isnt' cute, as it was perceived when everyone thought it was Edward.  I never understood how readers forgave Edward for his creepy behavior in the original.  Watching her sleep, in my book that's far outside the lines of normal.  Even though he wasn't dangerous, he was still putting her on a pedestal she didn't need.  This story line follows how stalking could escalate, and how inappropriate it was, considering their age difference and her youth.      

I hadn't given any thought to changing the front page for updates.  I'm still trying to figure out how the site works, since every chapter gives me an error message, and then I've got to ask to have the story added to the front page.  The last time I tried to edit something, it lost EVERYTHING: title, chapters, reviews, updates--everything.  I lost my first hundred reviews, and I'm sort of afraid to mess with it.  

Next chapter is up.  I really want to speed up my posting and get through this faster.  But real life is slowing me down.  Thanks for reading and reviewing.

All good sentiments.  It's funny, but even with teenagers, I missed a lot of this kind of drama.  A church friend had a son who killed himself at 19, and I can't think of a more tragic thing to happen.  It nearly broke his mother; she was a single mom, and he was her only child.  Rape is another of those things that can happen to teens.  The statistics are scary.  I still wish I'd signed my daughter up for martial arts lessons when she was little.  Knowing what's out there has made me over-protective.  

It always surprises me when readers react with such emotions.  Is it fair that your tears make me smile?  I just consider that it's fiction, and it's gratifying that I made my point; it's supposed to be sad, heartbreaking, and tragic.  I'm always humbled when readers get it, and make the journey with me.  Thank you.

I always wondered what would happen if the stars of a play couldn't go on; who would fill in.  Sometimes there's an understudy for the key parts, but in a high school production, it would be a lot to ask of a student, to learn a whole part, but not plan on performing.  There are a few who do know all the parts, but they're usually behind the scenes, like Bella and Edward here.  The little choreographer could have played the beast, and Eric probably could have after helping Dylan practice his part, but none of them have vampire memory.  Thanks again for reviewing.

This beast is so long, I've forgotten a lot of it too.  If breaking it into two or more books wouldn't require a bit of a rewrite, I'd split this.  I just don't think I"m up to rewriting the second part to make it stand alone.  I'm trying to write an original novel, as well as editing and uploading two here.  

Thanks again for reading.  This is one gigantic story, and it makes me very grateful for loyal readers.  

I wish I could say the end was near... but it's not even close.  This really should have been two or more books.  I've thought about splitting it, but I'd have to do some serious rewriting.  I'm afraid trying to make a second stand alone story could derail the whole thing.  As a whole, this is a monster of a story, which is why I've been getting the updates out as fast as possible.  Because this is so large, I'm even more in awe of my readers.  Thanks a bunch.  

Not exactly, unless you're talking about my rewrite.  This next chapter is one of those tangents I regret writing.  I"m going to try  shrink this down a bit.  Ever notice how a bit of research plants an idea that seems so awesome in theory, but in reality it just doesn't work?  Here I lost focus for a chapter.  

I've seen Dr. Phil shows, where he talks about "deconstructing" a relationship.  It's where two people get to go over what was wrong between them, what mistakes they made, and what they learned.  This is to help them get over the past, and let them move forward into new relationships without carrying all that baggage.  It's supposed to help them learn from their mistakes, and keep them from projecting old issues onto their new loves.  I think Bella and Mike did a bit of that in their meeting.  I love when characters are honest with each other, even when it hurts.  

Few parents ever stop to think that their actions could be hurting their kids.  He doesn't even realize he's using Sam as a tug-of-war rope; he just wants what he wants.  But while they were married, Bella wasn't very good at telling him what she wanted, and why she didn't want the things he valued.  She was trying too hard to be the good little wifey.  

I'm pretty sure Sam has Mike's number.  She's one of the few kids of divorce who isn't secretly hoping her parents get back together.  But still, as horrible as Mike is to Bella, he's not a bad dad -- at least when his mom and girlfriends are out of the mix.  This whole issue is one of those where Edward has to play back-up.  Mike wouldn't have given an inch if Edward showed up with her -- he's the enemy in his mind.  Here, Bella had to stand up for herself.  Teenage Bella never could have done it, but she's a woman, and she's got the spine of a mother bear now.  Even still, the whole issue hinges on what's best for Sam, and even when she wins, she loses some.  

Thanks again.  Next chapter is up!  

I hope you enjoy the rest of the story -- it's a long one.     

I think Bella handles herself pretty well here.  I think he heard her, which is what she needed.  

Thanks for such a positive review.  My imagination would have been going nuts if I didn't know who the stalker was.  I've found since I started writing, that I make a terrible reader, and I can sense surprises long before they're revealed.  It takes a great writer, or one who never tips their hand, to catch me off guard.  Movies and TV are even worse, and I've found myself yelling at the writers for being so obvious in their plotting.  My husband hates it, when we're barely into the movie, I'll announce, "His best friend did it."  

I think Edward has done that a time or two.  He's a little preoccupied with Bella just now.  

Thanks so much for this review.  I've found that when chapters get this long, many readers will comment on the last thing they read, and forget about everything else.  My own memory is just as faulty, and if I'm going to review, I'll write it as I read so I don't miss anything.  It's good to hear sometimes, that the rest of the chapter had an impact.  I'm also gratified that readers are interested in Sam and Kaylee, since they're entirely my own creations.  Original characters can easily take over a story, and push out the canon characters.  It's always my goal to fold them in, so it seems like they were there all along.  And of course I'm not above twisting the canons to suit my own evil plans.   

Some of Bella's desire to have Edward's baby, is me taking a shot at her original reluctance to play any of the traditional female roles.  This Bella wants to be married, and wants to be a mother.  It's funny how our attitudes from youth change when we grow up.  Sometimes the very things we fear, we create.   

I've run into someone who breeds animals, and she is convinced this hybrid is mostly impossible.  She joked about breeding a lion with an eagle to produce a griffin.  The vampire fertility is just one of those Twilight things, and we do the best we can with it.  Sometimes we just have to defy logic and reality, and go with it.  Once we swallow the existence of vampires, hybrids aren't such a leap.  Add in a cold dose of reality, and we get two parents who could outlive all of their human children.  Worse, their relationships would have to change, and that child they raised would then have to claim them as siblings, and later as children and grandchildren.    

I've seen custody battles play out, and some parents are really good at keeping it from their kids.  But I imagine the kids aren't stupid, and they know if their parent is decent or not.

It's been my experience that jealous men behave much worse than women.  Maybe it's that male trait of needing to "do" something about their problems.  

I'm glad to see that stuff doesn't happen to me alone.  I'm definitely not of the technological age.  

Thank you so much for the high praise.  I love to sing, and even though some of the old hymns have words that leave me confused, I still love to sing them.  I like the modern praise and worship music as well; to me, music is a gift.  I figured with so many writers creating rebellious, irreverent, wayward teens, I'd go the other way, and write one really clean-cut and well-behaved.  Kaylee isn't a wild child, and to me it seemed appropriate that she lead the Cullens in hymn singing.  The religion probably threw Bella a bit.  I can't imagine Renee in a church, and Charlie probably didn't go except for funerals, and weddings.    

Edward had to confront his idea of being a soulless monster, or he never would have asked her to change.  In fact, I think he would have found a way to have the Volturi end him before now.  I don't think this Bella would have agreed to join him if he still thought he was cursed.  It's his loneliness that really gets to her, and the idea that he would have to go on and live without her.  

As to the number of chapters... I hate to say it, but this is only about halfway.  I mentioned before that I should have split it up into at least two stories.  All the other questions will be in the story, eventually, though sooner rather than later.  Thanks so much for reading and reviewing; I really do appreciate it.  

I've always felt that her desire to be changed in the original was a little off.  I guess kids always think they know more than their parents, and will do things differently.  But being a child of divorce should have made her conscioius that relationships don't always last forever.  Being changed meant that she would give up everything and everyone she knew, including her parents.  That's a lot to hang on one man and the beauty she fell in love with.  In my story, she's got someone worth holding onto, and a reason to stay alive.  

Religion and vampires... To me, only Anne Rice does it well, but sometimes the exclusively Catholic way she spins it turns me off.  It may be a blasphemy to compare vampiric traits to Jesus, but sometimes I can't resist.  I'm wondering why more vampires in fiction don't pull out their Bibles to confront haters.  But all that aside, when you take characters that are over a hundred years old, you've almost got to add religion into their make up.  Like it or not, it was a big part of life in the past, even if you don't go back to the times of theocracies.  In the original, Edward believed he was a soulless monster, and changing Bella would condemn her soul as well.  His beliefs were based on religion, and so I had to use religion to change him.  I'd imagine that Edward and the other Cullens (except for Alice) went to church, at least on holidays, and Carlisle was a preacher's son.  Religion was a part of their lives.   

I think a lot of porcelan dolls are creepy.  It's hard to do faces, especially teeth, and not make them look inhuman, or demonic.  I think Rosalie had a fantasy of how her life should have turned out.  I wanted the dolls to reflect that idea of perfection that never quite lives up to expectations.  

Your comments about the nunnery, and "tasting the desperation and yearnings of women who ... craved motherhood," have stuck with me.  Being a mother is the one thing I wouldn't trade for anything.  Considering how women used to be pressured into becoming nuns, it's a sobering thought that they had to give up something so coveted.  Must have been cold comfort to sew clothes for a baby they'd never get to hold.  

Years (decades) ago, when I was in my twenties, I fell and injured my lower back.  The advice then was to alternate ice and heat - heat for the pain, and ice to keep the swelling down.  The pain in my back is finally gone; now I've just got to get the numbness out of my leg.  

I envy your daughter; I would have loved to have been a dancer.  The closest I ever got was dance aerobics.  I've got pictures of myself at three, posed in a ballet tutu.  Mom thought ballet would keep me from walking on my toes all the time. It didn't work, and the lessons didn't last.  Actually, I had a body built more for gymnastics, short, flexible, and late to bloom.  Being the oldest of five kids, and from a poor family, meant there was no money for lessons or training.  I hope your daughter follows her dream, even if it hurts.    

I'd imagine Rosalie didn't do much cooking herself, and if she did, it wasn't in a modern kitchen.  She probably never even thought of spoiled food or bacteria.  I don't picture her watching cooking shows like Esme would.  The setting and all the elegant touches would have been her thing.  I could really imagine her carving a radish into a rose, or artfully arranging petit fours, all while wearing an apron and high heels.    

My back didn't swell at all.  I just coughed too hard, and felt a nerve in my lower back pinch.  Crazy pain all the way down to my toes.  But it's getting better daily.  

Next chapter is up, and thanks for the kind words.

I'm vertical!  Distancing herself from her family is giving her an idea how Edward has felt most of his life.  When I originally started the stalker storyline, it was an effort to show how inappropriate that kind of behavior was.  So many thought it was cute that Edward stalked Bella in the original.  If he were actually a human teenager, it might have been awkward.  But a man over a hundred years old, peeking in the window of a seventeen year-old girl?  No, not cute.  Part of me rages that so many want to forgive the sins of the Cullens, because they're "hot."  I'm not one of them.  In my writing, I have to give Edward a good reason for stalking her, and for his "slips."  Oops, sorry for the serious response.   

I like that Bella's attitudes about children changed as she got older.  Young Bella didn't really want to fill the traditional roles of wife and mother, but now Sam has been the joy of her life, and she wants to share that with Edward.  Bella and Leah are two unlikely sisters, almost opposite in every way.  But being thrown together by their parents' marriage, it made them see past their differences.  This time she doesn't have to choose between Edward and Jacob, but Edward and Leah.  I like changing it up.  Still, there's no real choice here.  

Heh, by now you know how accurate you were.  Thanks again for the review!

Leah is the character who drew me into fan fiction.  I had to write a better ending for her than Meyer gave her.  I've seen a lot of writers stick to the prickly, sarcastic, bad-attitude, but if there's nothing behind it, it gets boring fast.  

Sam just doesn't worry about what's real or not.  She takes Edward at face value and doesn't flinch or try to explain it in a rational way.  Adults are more likely to doubt their eyes, or believe there's some kind of trick.  

Sorry you missed the updates.  I keep getting the fatal my sql errorr, so it doesn't make the front page unless I ask.  

Even if someone is diligent about their birth control, it's realistic that a slip could happen.  

They've still got some stuff to overcome, but once they decided they didn't want to give up, they'll have to face them one by one.  

A lot of Bella's feelings are based on nothing more than hope.  She doesn't have all the answers.  

Thanks for taking the time to comment.

I don't see Jasper as flirting, so much as teasing her and trying to push her buttons.  He's had an extra 25 years to work on his control, but he's still dangerous--and wants her to know it.  I figure he's also picking up Edward's emotions concerning Bella, so he's getting a lot of love, lust, and hunger where she's concerned.  

Oops, forgot about the flowers.  ("We forgot about the flowers," is a favorite line from a favorite movie of mine, Ice Castles.)  Love google!  Without google, I probably wouldn't research most of what I add to my stories.

I love how they tease each other.  I don't know why, but every time I write the family, they've got that brother/sister dynamic, even if I write them as older and more mature.  Thanks again for the review!

(giggle)  Lupin pharmaceuticals... now there's some marketing angles I'm sure they haven't explored.  That name comes directly from Harry Potter... makes me wonder what Rowling's lawyers would say about that.  

Thanks, and I'm glad I haven't lost you.  This is a long story.  

It's bad, because I forget what happens sometimes.  The story is too stinking long!

I know of divorced couples who have had issues just like those between Bella and Mike -- sadly.  When kids are involved, it can get even messier.  If not for Sam, Bella could put Mike completely out of her life and mind.  It's a tough line to walk, because the one she's fighting with is the other parent to Sam.  

Denise is fun.  She's usually the one catching Bella off guard, so it was fun to see Edward play her game and win.  Being a mind reader is almost cheating.  Thanks again for the kind reviews and the sweet rating.