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Post by Violet on Aug 20, 2010 6:50:12 GMT -5
Dani,
The progress Bella and Edward have made is astounding, yet utterly believable. Bella is becoming who she was meant to be: well-rounded, honest (but not unkind or harsh), self-controlled, thoughtful, forgiving, and loving (putting Edward and Grace's needs and wants first and her own feelings aside). Her interaction with Alice is a good example. She was honest, but didn't lash out, was reasonable, and humble, willing to endure what Alice dished out for Edward and Grace's sake.
Also her thoughts when Edward asked her to come home... She has become quite insightful. She saw his fragile heart and it stirred her and she wanted to protect and care for it. It's as if she realized he was saying, "look after my heart, I've left it with you".
She is becoming selfless...such a beautiful quality.
I'm glad you have continued to write Alice the way you have. It seems realistic and true to the character that you crafted from the beginning of this story. She has always seemed self-centered to me. Even her love of Edward and Grace seems to serve her own needs. From my perspective, people like her may never be able to humble themselves, forgive, admit they were wrong, and work on truly loving. Really, what is she accomplishing with her "stand" at this point? Who is she helping, or loving, or supporting? How is it beneficial to Edward or Grace for her to shun Bella? It wouldn't surprise me if she remains stubborn. I hope that her family doesn't continue to turn their heads to her attitude. It is bad for her, just like it would be bad for Bella if no one ever held her accountable for her behavior. If they really love Alice, they will be straight with her and stop letting her act like a spoiled brat. At this point, Bella is someone Alice should look to and admire for all she has accomplished, not disdain.
I love Esme! How blessed Edward is to have her as a mother!
And Grace! From the way her life began in Bella's body, imagine how things might have gone for that little one! But now... Now, you would be hard-pressed to find a little one more surrounded by love and all the best that this life has to offer. She truly is blessed!
I'm so sorry that this story is almost over. Thank you again and again for sharing yourself with us.
Violet
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Post by flojo03 on Aug 20, 2010 7:11:44 GMT -5
I finally got to read this chapter and it had me all choked up , I loved the "sex talk" edward and emmett had with jacob, bellas brave attempt at at getting Alice to come shopping with her and not loosing her cool, bella christmas shopping with 3 children (very very brave), bella getting the sun catcher for Grace, worrying that it would be wrong but being happy as Grace stared at it and "talked" to it, Edward going to bellas work because he misses her and his home is different when she isn't there, "And you're here. So... home isn't...", "Then...come home". Alright. The whole time I was reading this chapter I had this question going through my mind. 'WHAT IF SOMEONE LOOKED INTO THE WINDOW OF YOUR LIFE, WHAT WOULD THEY SEE?" I think I might need to go buy myself a journal where I can answer this question. Thank you for such a beautiful chapter and fantastic story.<3
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Post by Olena on Aug 20, 2010 12:21:07 GMT -5
I don't think I can say anything better than Violet said. I second her review. I just wanted to let you know that your story is unique and beautiful and the last chapter had me grinning like a fool because it's just perfect. Sigh.
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Post by coloradoperson on Aug 20, 2010 14:50:03 GMT -5
old wounds heal, walls come down, trust is built, joy is welcomed.....and she finally goes home.
What a beautiful chapter.
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Post by Kittybean on Aug 20, 2010 15:00:43 GMT -5
I have a sun catcher like that but it's purple... My mom got it for me for Christmas one year... what a coincedence... I loved the chapter..
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Post by Mel on Aug 20, 2010 16:26:23 GMT -5
Wow!! I have been wanting to read this story for a while now and finally got the chance to read it. What a lovely ff this is. You definitely know how to tug on the heartstrings for sure...lol. Totally loved it and I am looking forward to the next update.
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Post by biteme1994 on Aug 20, 2010 19:27:12 GMT -5
Love it! Poor Jakey! The talk. Edward. “Your’re going to want to do a lot more than just eat turkey…and that’s okay…but, just not right now. You see…you want to marry the turkey first. You and the turkey should be in love. Committed.” Man Two agreed. Oh, Brilliant Man One…so many meanings to so few words. Practice what you preach much? Also a cryptic way of saying ,“Bella I want to give you my last name”.? “And you don’t want turkeys from Virginia. They are…you just don’t want them trust me.” Awe. He was trying to say keep away from Bree and there was T-R-O-U-B-L-E that began with the letter T.? “Did he ever let you shoot his gun?” Jacob asks. I laugh. “No. Never.” Really? Umm…guess I’m more of a redneck than I thought. Shooting my Dad’s gun. Dating a guy that hunted, fished, and trapped advidly. “Grandpa Billy says he’s gonna teach me when I turn fifteen.” No way! 15? Wow! Really feeling countrified, hillbilly, from the Boondocks/Hicktown now. I have always been from the country and not afraid to say that’s where I come from. Being from the Bible clinging ( or was it Faith?) and gun totting state that has a youth mentored hunting program. Letting those under 12 years of age go out and learn with a legal licensed adult 21 years old. My youngest is now 12, going to complete the hunter safety course and currently shopping for his first rifle. In the case of this story it is good that Billy did not show him ealier. Trying to impress Bree. Feel for you Jake! Some Girls Do like those kind of boys. Grace giving her Daddy more color. Alice and Renee. Looking forward to what happens there. It is so hard to turn the other cheek. Alice could have gone out of her way acting like they were OBHF*** family when with everyone instead of ignoring her like she did. There is hope that Grace has some hearing? Bella saying “Daddy’s home” and her reaction even though she didn’t think it was that. But, Edward whispering in her ear. Bella. She Is Home.
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Post by rakkelle on Aug 21, 2010 18:45:46 GMT -5
Hi!! i just stopped by to tell u that i love UtAT !! it is a really great story very different. Also wanted to know if you have more or some recomendations of some good ones. Keep up the good work!!
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Post by kellyprovence on Aug 21, 2010 21:45:25 GMT -5
Hi!! i just stopped by to tell u that i love UtAT !! it is a really great story very different. Also wanted to know if you have more or some recomendations of some good ones. Keep up the good work!! If uts rec's your wanting, there are a few of us that have a blog that promotes little know authors. There are some awesome fic on here. twi-ficpromotions.blogspot.com/also, I am reading Papercuts Outs right now..its a great Daddyward fic! I think Dani is reading it also. www.fanfiction.net/s/5993964/1/bPaper_b_bCutOuts_bHope you enjoy some of them! Kelly
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Post by syazmar on Aug 22, 2010 4:58:56 GMT -5
UtAT has got to be one of the most believable fics i have ever read! I love how both of your main characters grew throughout the story while still staying true to themselves. I'm going to miss Voctor Shullen hard! Thank you for sharing him with us. I'm now looking forward to your disableward
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Post by moninp on Aug 22, 2010 5:35:15 GMT -5
Oh Dani... Just as I was going to be, I saw your update... I just squeed.. it's 5:34 am, and I am going to sleep with the biggest smile on my face........... LOVED IT!!!!!!!!!!!!! .. Thank you for giving us such a beautiful, well written story! xoxo
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Post by Violet on Aug 22, 2010 6:03:36 GMT -5
Dani,
I wish I could somehow express how touched I have been by this story. The plot is exceptional...so redemptive...so truly loving. Edward from Under the Apple Tree is such a special character; I don't think I'll ever forget him. I have been inspired by this story to want to be better at things in my own life. I feel it has changed me. Most of what I read in fanfiction is just fun and entertaining - fairytales about perfect men and beautiful, vulnerable but strong women. But you have made a story that far exceeds that model.
Some of my favorite moments from this chapter:
~*~ Edward caring for Grace in the night when she is scared. So tender...just...perfect... Everything we wish our fathers had been and want our husbands to be.
~*~ Bella's graduation. Her selflessness even in the face of her own accomplishment. Her acknowledgement that Grace was the impetus. "I tell her with my own fingers and voice. 'I love you'."
~*~ Bella and Edward on the bed with Grace. "She's so beautiful." He is watching what I am watching. On our bed. In between us. A sleeping face. Tiny hands and pink little lips. Dreaming. Peaceful.
I nod and don't look away. The curls around my fingers feel just like the one's on my own head. But they are not frizzy. They are smooth and soft. They are well cared for. They are treated with ribbons and bows and headbands and I am not Renee. She has a hat with a logo and a number that was made just for her and it is the only time the curls are compromised. But when it sits on her head, she sits on Edward's lap. And he, he is Charlie. He is everything good and we, we are not my parents.
This touched me so deeply. I have a little bit in common with Bella's childhood and I am the mother of two daughters who are now grown. But, it was one of my strong motivations as I mothered them to always make sure they were tenderly cared for. It was a way of showing them their worth...how very precious they were to me. Little things were important to me, conditioner to make their hair soft and smell good, creams for their soft little girl skin, clean and soft clothes in pretty little girl colors. (When my oldest was two, we took her to the circus, and she was surprised to find that they were selling "dryer fuzz" (cotton candy) and people were eating it! Our little girl dryer fuzz was cotton candy colored.) My heart would swell with emotions - satisfaction?, pride?, gratefulness? - sometimes and I think that is what you were showing Bella feeling there. Happiness that she was doing better than had been done for her, that she wasn't making that mistake and that Grace would know, even in little insignificant ways, that she was loved.
~*~ Bella being comfortable in her role as 'Mommy'.
~*~ Jacob and Bree and their blossoming little relationship. Sweet teenaged kisses on the porch. Bella, with a soft spot for young love, as their accomplice.
~*~ Bella missing Grace on the gondola ride.
~*~ Edward's perfect-for-them proposal. Bella's knees that are failures.
You are an artist, a craftsman, with your words. Even though I love your plot, it wouldn't have been as captivating without your word choices, turn of a phrase, expressions. I will be sure to read anything you choose to write in the future.
I'm so going to miss them!
Thank you again for sharing your gifts with us!
~Violet
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Post by bellabells7279 on Aug 22, 2010 6:05:29 GMT -5
This is the best story ever. I will always treasure your story. Love the ending so much. I am so happy for them all especially Bella. Can't wait to read the outtakes. Thank you for updating so quickly.
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Post by flojo03 on Aug 22, 2010 6:29:35 GMT -5
was so excited to see the update, but also so sad that this is the last chapter , wish it could go on until they are old & grey in their rocking chairs. My favourite parts in this chapter were when Edward was comforting Grace the night before her surgery when they were packing up Graces room and Alice found Bellas letters to Grace and she read them the bunny buying incident and then what Bella saw between Jake and Bree when looking for the lost bunny....did they end up finding it "I just have a hard time saying no when his mouth is speaking things to me.Especially when it is between my legs. Thanking Bella "for always saying she is ours" And finally Edward arranging to have the apple tree which was a part of Bellas condition for moving to Virginia plant in their yard while they were away in Italy, and realising "how much it is like us". "The point though, is that your taking a chance. There's no guarantee of what will happen. And if we never took a chance, Bella, we might have died. And we wouldn't have what we have now". THANK YOU FOR SHARING YOUR FANTASTIC AND ALLOWING ME TO MEET SHULLEN, BELLA & GRACE
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fanny
Ready for an exam by Dr. Shullen
Posts: 22
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Post by fanny on Aug 22, 2010 6:55:48 GMT -5
this is just so fucking bittersweet. ok i don't even know what i'm going to say so i'm just going to type and let it all flow out and i have no idea if it will even make sense but it comes from my heart and my soul. god i remember when i first saw you post this, i remember thinking meh workshop flowerchild chick has a new fic, might as well read it, i mean i did love the workshop. shit if i only knew. if i only knew that my life would change because of this fic. if i only knew that i would get to know the author. and can consider the author as a friend. if i only knew that because of the author and this story i would meet other people. amazing people. people that have lived amazing lives. and share their stories. and make me think, and make me change the way i think. and open my mind. if i only knew the impact of characters on my life. characters that i have grown to love. characters that so own me. characters that i am so fucking proud of. characters that have shown me how to live. how to say yes instead of no. characters that have opened themselves up again, after being closed for so fucking long. that keep going no matter how hard. that keep going no matter how broken. characters that endure. endure the lowest of the lows. the highest of the highs. and all through it all are surrounded by love. edward and bella's amazing love. grace's love, a love so strong and pure and perfect, her love for her father, her love for her mother, her love for her grandparents and the love they all have for her. this amazing child that was brought here under the most terrible of circumstances but none of that was ever, ever reflected on her. but you know this. you made this. so yes, this simple story has grown to mean so much to me. so so so so so much. the author has grown to mean so much to me. ugh shit sorry i'm a sappy shit. HMMM WHO IS TO BLAME FOR THAT? ?? so i can only say thank you. two words. so small. but they mean so much. thank you for writing this. thank you for bringing people together because of this. most of all thank you that for all the fuckery that has gone on since this started you never ever ever let it stop you updating, and all of the updates were of the utmost quality. and we all know that to lesser people that would've stopped them. ohhh wait wait wait. wait. wait. stop. i am forgetting the most important thing. THANK YOU FOR MR AMAZINGPANTS HIMSELF. MR MYJIZZISSOINCREDIBLEYOUWANTTOBESTUCKTOMYCOCKALLDAY, MR SWEETHEARTBABYLOVE, MR EVERYTHING. MR AMAZING. MR FANTASTIC. MR CULLEN. SHULLEN. SHULLEN. SHULLEN. THE MOST SWEETEST, BRAVEST, GIVING, LOVING, CARING, INCREDIBLE INCREDIBLE WONDERFUL MAN. THANK YOU. A MILLION THANK YOU'S. and i cannot wait to read more. whenever you post it. whenever your life allows you time to post it. whenever that precious child inside decides to let you sleep so you can have a fresh mind to post it!
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