A Nice Family Talk
Renesmee Carly Cullen was now nine years old, and had reached full maturity a couple of years before. She was almost as tall as me, and looked to be about sixteen-what with her waifish features and slight built-with auburn hair, just like her father and expressive brown eyes that made her uncanny ability of passing on her thoughts unnecessary. Our daughter was the best child anyone could wish for.
"Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad," she said, as she walked by the kitchen, where Edward and I were preparing her dinner.
"Nessie," said Edward, and she stopped dead in her tracks, hearing the tone in his voice. She sighed, and turned to look at us. I cracked a smile and hid it behind the plate I was getting for Edward. "Come join us," said Edward, in a pleasant voice. I was sure there was something up-noting the tone of my husband's voice. He was reading her mind already.
"Sure, Dad," muttered Nessie and sat heavily on the chair across from us. Edward took the plate from me and started to serve the Fettuccini that I had helped him cook.
"How was your day, honey?" Edward asked, placing the plate before her.
Nessie sighed again and actually rolled her eyes. "Dad, let's just skip the pleasantries, okay?" she said.
It was Edward's turn to sigh. "Don't roll your eyes at me," he said, and was about to say something sharper, but I cut him off. I knew him well enough.
"Okay! So, what news have you got for us, Nessie?" I asked her, and sat down across from her. I smiled encouragingly, trying to tell her that it was okay, that Daddy wasn't really angry at her. Opening up my stretching-rubber-band power, I told Edward Calm down so she can talk! I gave him a look that he didn't miss, and neither did Nessie. "So?" I asked her.
With yet another sigh, Nessie said, "Fine! I met someone, okay?" she said.
"Met?" Edward said. "No, Renesmee. You know my abilities. You know I can read your mind, even if I don't want to. And what I am reading right now is not that you met someone, but that you were with someone. Don't censor your thoughts to your mother. Tell her the truth."
I could tell it was already too late to calm him down. Edward was an overprotective father and husband. If anybody got too close to his baby, he over-reacted. "Edward," I said, in warning. Then I turned to Renesmee. "What is he talking about?" I asked.
Nessie leveled me a look that spoke volumes. "I like him," she said, simply, shrugging. Edward growled. While I ignored him, Nessie stiffened and extended her hand to me. I frowned and took it. It still felt strange to see her thoughts in my own mind, but she was my daughter and I wasn't going to turn her away. Her hand was smooth, like a baby's bottom. I almost sighed as I remembered her birth, but then shivered when her thoughts began to transfer to my head. There was a boy, just his face, and there were a lot of dreamy little girly things there, too. Like pink and red hearts, cupids, flowers and chocolate. Frowning I muttered, "Okay, Nessie."
"Mom," she said, and I chuckled.
I payed more attention then, and watched the boy's face more intently. He was about sixteen, maybe seventeen. Not very tall, but still sort of cute in a kid way. He had jet-black hair and a straight nose. A body that said I-work-out-and-eat-a lot-but-never-gain-weight. He had a nice smile, and dimples, too. His eyes were blue and his teeth were small white pearls. Hmm, I guessed my daughter had good taste in boys. He was saying something, and I payed close attention. "Nessie," he said, "would you like to go out some time?" And then there was my own baby's voice, that said, "Oh, uh, sure, why not?" And the boy grinned. His name was Kyle Brooks.
"Kyle Brooks?" I said, shaking my head and letting go of her hand.
Nessie bit her bottom lip. "Uhm," she murmured.
I sighed. "Nessie, I didn't think we had to tell you this. You're way too young to be dating six-seventeen year old boys-"
"You're too young, period," said Edward.
"But, Mom-"
"No, Nessie, you don't understand. If this boy knew your exact age, he wouldn't be asking you to go out," I said. "Don't you think it's wrong for you to tell him your his same age when you're not? Isn't that lying? Didn't your father and I teach you better?" I asked, rhetorically. Nessie averted her eyes, but I stood up and walked around the table to kneel by her. "I don't want you to have to lie. You're nine years old, not a teenager. Not yet. You'll just have to wait, Nessie. Okay?" I asked, taking both her hands, ignoring all the thoughts that were going through her head.
Edward wasn't ignoring them, though, and he shot up off the chair and growled. "I won't have you dating an older boy, Renesmee. You will have to tell him to get lost," he said, through gritted teeth.
"Edward," I snapped. "Calm down!"
"Calm down? Bella, calm down? Don't tell me to calm down. My daughter is dating an older man, Bella, do you understand?" he demanded, and I glared at him.
"Hey, I'm trying just as hard as you are," I snapped. "And anyway, this isn't about me, or you. This is about her."
"Exactly," he barked. "Renesmee, go to your room," he said. "And tomorrow, you will not leave this house," he continued.
I gasped. Nessie gasped. "But, Dad-"
"Go to your room!" he yelled.
My mouth dropped open. I could not believe this. I just couldn't believe it. He was yelling? Yelling? My Edward was yelling? No, no, no, this was not happening. Suddenly, Nessie jumped and ran up the stairs. I stared after her, my mouth gaping. Then, I looked back at Edward, and slowly stood up. He ran a hand through his hair. "I cannot believe you just yelled at her. You yelled at your daughter, Edward!" I said, loudly.
"I can't believe it either," he said, on a gasp. Suddenly he wasn't there anymore. He was in Nessie's room. From the bottom of the stairs, I heard them talking and they were loud, too. Nessie had much both of our tempers, and I didn't know if that was a good combination.
I sighed and looked over at the plate of food Nessie had left on the table. Grabbing it, I ran up the stairs, still careful of not dropping everything all over the stairs. When I got to her room, I watched as Edward drew her into his arms and she began to weep. The tears that I couldn't shed prickled my eyes and I wanted to get rid of the plate and just take her and comfort her. What had he told her? I wondered, standing at the threshold of my daughter's room. I remembered the day I woke and first saw her, how much I wanted to finally meet her and hold her in my arms. And then, how she'd received me-"She's been waiting for you for almost three days," Edward had told me. And I had wanted nothing more than to die in those three days. But, then I'd woken up and I'd found how wonderful it felt to feel alive and to be able to look at Edward and the rest of my new family. And my daughter. Her beautiful auburn, curly hair all the way down to her lower back, her smile, the warmth of her brown eyes.
They were as beautiful as Edward had said in the forest that day.
I knocked on the open door, and Nessie looked up and smiled at me. My silent heart suddenly beat fiercely-or at least that was what I felt when she walked towards me and hugged me. Edward relieved me of the plate and I took Nessie into my arms. "Baby..." I murmured, and she began to cry all over again. "Nessie, don't cry," I whispered, burying my face in her soft hair. Whoever said it was going to be hard to be parents should have been shot-this was worst than hard, this was almost impossible. It was difficult to not be a friend to her, to stop for a second and feel how young I was. A mother at eighteen, and I was never going to be nineteen, twenty, twenty-one... never thirty. I would never go through mid-life crisis, like Charlie. But Nessie would someday be a teenager, and would someday be eighteen even though she'll look sixteen.
Edward came and put his strong arms around the both of us. "We've got to be stronger than this, Bella," he said to me, quietly. Maybe Nessie wouldn't hear. I nodded, and looked up at him. "I love you," he murmured. "I love you both so much," he said, louder this time.
"I'm sorry," Nessie blubbered, and I hugged her harder. "I'm sorry for lying-"
"You can't really lie, Nessie, your dad would catch you before that happened," I said, trying to lighten the mood.
"I know, but I was going to lie, and you guys did teach me better than that. I'm really sorry, Dad, Mom," Nessie said. "I promise I won't ever think of it again."
"We know that, Nessie. And, I'm sorry for yelling. I was out of line, will you forgive me, princess?" Edward asked, kissing Nessie's crown.
"Of course, Daddy," she said, and laughed a little. "You know, I think we should take a vacation. It's been five years, you guys. In Forks, you guys got like this, and then we came over here and it was okay-but now, I think we gotta move on," Nessie said.
I thought about that. "You know what? I think you're right. We should go somewhere else, Edward," I said, and he looked at me and grinned.
"Where should we go now?" he asked, with that crooked smile on his face.
"Hmm, let's try Alice and Jasper's route? We could go to their house, stay for a while, and then we decide. Let's just a take a vacation," I said, and grinned.