http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5853091/1/In_the_Twilight_of_My_Life

Official Description: When you think you have nothing left to live for, what happens when you’re given another chance? AU/AH, BxE

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cosmogirl7481 says: First of all, I must start this by saying that I am a huge fangirl of theladyingrey42. She has pretty much owned me from the moment I first read about chocolate and cherries. She writes beautifully, poetically even. So, when I heard that she was writing another multi-chapter fic, I was excited. When she said it was going to be something different from Love Amongst the Ruins, I was intrigued.

In the Twilight of My Life is just that. Different. Don’t go into it thinking that it is just another Twilight Fan-fic. It’s not. It is a beautiful and achingly real and romantic story. It is told from Bella’s point of view and it begins with the passing of her husband, Jacob. Bella is elderly, past the age of retirement. She describes the knowledge of her loss and her age in one perfectly haunting passage:

But this time he’d left me waiting. Waiting for I didn’t even know how long. Waiting for this old and useless body to finally finish its sad shriveling, for the wrinkled skin of my hands to finally grow too thin across the spiderweb network of my bones.

He’d left me waiting until I could join him.

Bella is left devastated without the love of her life and has difficulty functioning. Her daughter, Carlie, moves her mother to an assisted living facility, as Bella so poignantly states,

Because something as simple as living was something I needed assistance with now.

And Bella grieves.

Her grief is depicted through the flawless and exquisite words of our author. We feel Bella’s pain and loss in a very real and significant way.

The one thing that Bella seems to do to cope with her depression, is being rolled in her wheelchair underneath a tree at twilight, where she smokes the same brand of cigarettes that her husband smoked, American Spirits. It is under this same tree that she meets Edward. He smokes a different brand of cigarettes, Marlboro, and it is the first thing she notices.

A whiff of smoke passed over me then, a scent of something new and old and sad, a different kind of smoke than that of my Jacob. I heard the crunching of leaves, the motion of another human on this earth, marching inexorably toward the end.

Nothing much is said between these two during their first encounter, but a silent moment is shared between them and Bella finds comfort in his quiet presence. They agree to meet in the same place at twilight. theladyingrey42 does an impeccable job of developing their relationship and even though the chapters are short, because of the way she writes, you don’t feel as if anything is missed or brushed past. As they share the stories of their lives, every moment is believable…every word is significant.

Especially the first time they touch.

I felt the chill in the air and wondered absently if he would still want to come here with me once the weather really turned. And if he did if we would need to wear gloves. If I would lose this only contact I had with another human being’s skin.

He looked down at the motion of my thumb against his hand and closed his other palm over the bony knobs of my fingers. And there was something in his eyes, then. A certain loneliness and the hint of something left unsaid.

Make no mistake, despite the age of the two main characters, this is a love story. And honestly, it is one of the most beautiful and well-written love stories I have had the pleasure of reading.

I blinked repeatedly, trying to rise but feeling myself sucked down into the comfort of an embrace born not of tears but of closeness. Resting with my body tucked up against his side, my head on his shoulder, surrounded by warmth, I felt more comfort than I had in a long and lonely year.

theladyingrey42 makes the flow of her beautiful words and the vivid imagery she creates look effortless. (She assures me that it’s not.) You will find yourself enthralled by the heartbreaking undertone of the story, while being captivated by the joy of finding a new and different kind of love when it’s least expected.

I love that this story is so different and I praise the author for putting herself out there with a story such as The Twilight of My Life. I would read anything she wrote, but this has been an extraordinary pleasure…the kind of gratification that only comes from being able to really smile…blissfully through your tears. I could go on and on about this story, but I would much rather you read it and experience it for yourself. Please read this story and tell her how much you love and appreciate her for it.

I promise, you won’t be disappointed.

MF’er says: I have to be completely honest, when I first saw the title of this story, I was a little nervous… I didn’t think I would care to read about something like this, but I will be the first to admit: I was wrong. This has quickly earned a top spot in my favorite stories of all time. No, it’s not because of gratuitous smut, because if that’s all you’re looking for, you’re in the wrong place.
It’s because it’s a true love story.

I’ve said this to theladyingrey and I’ll share it with you too: oftentimes, we all forget what brought us here. It wasn’t the desire for a non-fade to black ending to the honeymoon, it was these characters and the epic love story that began between Bella and Edward. This story—for me—is the epitome of that very thing.

In The Twilight of my Life makes me think of myself, of my mother, of any woman who has ever—or might ever—lose the man they thought to be the love of their life. How we imagine that it would completely end us, and how it would probably feel as such while you’re grieving for the loss of your other half; your partner in life. It’s a reminder for me that your life doesn’t have to end when theirs does. That there are other possibilities out there.

It is possible to have more than one love of your life.

Falling in love with Jacob was easy. Like breathing.

By the time we finally decided to become lovers, we had known each other for so long that it had been nothing, really, to come to know each other that way, too.

Falling in love with Jacob was so easy I scarcely even noticed it was happening.

That wasn’t how it happened with Edward.

With Edward, I felt every single inch of the fall.

If you’re anything like me, this story will make you cry. It will make you smile and it will make you sigh the happiest sighs. It’s just so unbelievably sweet and endearing to watch this love story unfold between two characters who are so familiar to all of us be characterized in such an unconventionally beautiful way. I commend theladyingrey for writing this story and adding huge smiles to my life on the days that she updates. You’re absolutely one-hundred-percent missing out if you’re not already reading this lovely story.

WindyCityWonder says: I
like risk takers. Those willing to abandon cliché and expectations and create something completely their own without hesitation. This is why I absolutely adore TheLadyinGrey42. The girl’s got brass balls and addictive words. Her most recent endeavor, In the Twilight of my Life, is most definitely a risk, but nothing short of brilliant.

In these brief chapter shots, the reader gets a look into the mind of a recently widowed older Bella. She spends most of her time at the assisted living center sitting under her tree, smoking American Spirits as homage to her late husband, Jake.

My Jacob had never left me waiting before.

But this time he’d left me waiting. Waiting for I didn’t even know how long. Waiting for this old and useless body to finally finish its sad shriveling, for the wrinkled skin of my hands to finally grow too thin across the spiderweb network of my bones.

He’d left me waiting until I could join him.

Bella meets fellow resident Edward, at twilight under her tree, and their friendship blossoms. The closer she and Edward get, the more Bella begins to see herself again, more than just the shell she had been since Jake’s death.

The exchanges between these two are so simple in speak but pull hard on heartstrings. I get all heart-ichokey every time I read a “Twilight?” “Twilight.” pass from them.

With a style that is simultaneously concise and deeply reflective, it’s impossible not to get wrapped up in Bella’s stream of consciousness; aching with her for her loss and rooting for her opportunity.

Falling in love with Jacob was easy. Like breathing.

By the time we finally decided to become lovers, we had known each other for so long that it had been nothing, really, to come to know each other that way, too.

Falling in love with Jacob was so easy I scarcely even noticed it was happening.

That wasn’t how it happened with Edward.

With Edward, I felt every single inch of the fall.

Sigh. I love the between the lines of TheLadyInGrey almost as much as I love the lines. Anyone looking to read something beautiful and original should be following these two In the Twilight of their lives.