A/N: This is set in an Alternative Universe (AU), because Bella has lived in Forks all of her life, and that has changed the world of Twilight a little. Reneesme is also still a half vamp, half human, but she grows up like a regular human child, and thinks like one too.
Disclaimer: Me? I don't own Twilight! Stephenie Meyer does! How did you ever come up with that idea? :D
Chapter one
A Strange Occurrence
Bella's POV
"And then- if you'll believe me, Jessica, Tyler's like- OMG! That's your sister? Like he's totally forgotten I exist! And I'm like yeah, so what- and he's like-"
From months of practice, I blocked out Lauren's next babble of words. Instead of listening to another sentence about how Tyler had left Lauren for her older, supposedly more ugly (Lauren's observations) sister, I found myself looking at the Cullen table, wishing I was sitting with my crush, Edward Cullen, than here, with Jessica, the giggling bitch and queen of the school, and Lauren, her blonde, never shutting up, best friend, who Paris Hilton could outrun in IQ.
And then there was dearest darling Mike Newton, with his cute baby face and round, innocent blue eyes- the school's biggest player, and as such, a complete prick. I remember the day he tried asking me out- no, inviting me to his place, suggesting we should study there. When I had refused, he had come closer to me, and whined that if I had such a good body, I might as well use it. He was slapped quicker than Jessica would be able to say 'Oh my fucking god'.
I sighed. I really wished I could sit somewhere else, and not with the idiots I called my friends. But that was easier said than done. Having nothing better to do, I decided to sit back in my chair and quietly observe the on goings in the cafeteria of my high school. It's not that I spied on the students here in my free time- hell no, what; do you think I act like a little kid playing James Bond? I snorted at the mental image of me in a black suit, waving a gun.
Mike looked up from his sandwich at the sound of my laughter, his eyes questioning, but I shrugged his motion off, getting back to amusing myself with my own musings.
The cafeteria was the same size as your typical gym, painted a dull white and there were a dozen tables in it, all occupied by six average and boring looking chairs. That's something people should work on, I thought. The architecture of this school is so plain it makes you suffer to look at it.
As there is in every high school, no matter what country you were in, the invisible order from which our very day-to-day life consisted was made obvious when you stared around the room. Each table occupied a group of different 'type' of teenagers. For example, there was the 'It Crowd', which always sat at the back of the hall, like kings and queens, and exactly where I found myself.
My eyes moved onto the 'nerd' table, where my former best friend Angela Weber, a short brunette with a very kind smile and brown eyes, was laughing along side of another former friend, Ben, about something. Sitting next to them was the guy who was literally in LOVE with anything that had to do with chess and computer games. You know, I'm sure you've met his type, greasy hair, acne, glasses? The one who every kid laughs at in school, until ten years later he comes back for the high school reunion, a rich, successful business man that everybody suddenly behaves nicely to?
Anyway, the kid I'm talking about goes by the name Eric, in case you cared.
I felt a pang as I looked at them, wishing I was there, not here. But that time was over. It was my fault we weren't friends anymore, and I would never be able to change it.
My gaze traveled to Edward, who was picking at his food and talking to the Cullen's. The strange family was such a mystery to me that I found it hard to put my questions about them into words. First, there was Alice. Short, perky and black, spiky hair. She -like everyone else in her patchwork family- had strange looking yellow eyes, a color I have never seen on a person before. I only had two classes with her- English and History, and in those short periods of time observing her, I've come to the conclusion that's she's either hyperactive or takes drugs, because no one- I repeat, no one could ever be as full of energy and cheerful as she was. Despite this, I kind of liked her. There was something about that girl that had me smiling myself, and I thought, that if I ever plucked up the courage to talk to her brother, we could easily become friends.
That brought me to the next oddball, Edward Cullen himself. He was very good-looking, to say the least. Boyish, but in a good way, tall, muscular, and with gold-brown hair that stuck up in every possible direction. He was so deathly pale it was scary- but it was widely believed by the school that the Cullens were Emos, and wore white powder make up to look cooler. I myself thought this was quite a stupid theory, because not one of the Cullens wore eyeliner, or black clothes. And that that was more Goth than Emo if they actually did so, but this was beside the point.
I sighed. If only I could try talking to him... I cannot remember when I fall in love with Edward, but, all of a sudden, one morning when I walked into English and saw him sitting at his table at the back, his expression so sad and angry... I just knew. Knew that I liked him, knew I would never be able to act on the desire. Really, I should write a book- Girl loves guy, but he's totally out of her league. Yeah, that would be an instant bestseller.
I have tried liking someone else, someone who knew I actually existed, but it's been impossible. Everytime I've stared at another boy, I would start comparing him with Edward- and every boy would pale in comparison. It was so strange, really, I'd never even talked to him, yet I was in love. I liked the way he talked in class, I adored him when he spoke to his friends, laughing at the jokes that his big brother, Emmet made...
I shook my head, nothing could ever happen between us. "I think I'm going to catch some air," I told the others. Standing up, and not bothering with waiting for a response, (the answer would be 'sure, whatever', anyway.), I walked out of the cafeteria, breathing in the cold, fresh air.
I marched over to one of the wooden benches that stood under a large and old oak tree, and sat myself down, staring at the grey building I called school. No second had I done this when an awful wail pierced through the vacant lot. I jumped up, stricken, wondering what possible was going on, when my vision fell on the source of the noise, a crying child, who was sitting on a bench a few feet away from me.
My brow forrowed in confusion. Who would ever leave their child alone on a park bench in front of a highschool? Maybe the little girl was the sister of someone here, I thought. That still didn't explain why she was by herself.I made my way over to her. She was small, very pale, and had long curly bronze hair.
"Um... Hello," I greeted the tiny girl, bending down so we were at the same face level, feeling very awkard and timid. I never had much skill with children."Are you lost?"
The girl looked up, and I was shocked as an exact copy of my chocolate colored eyes looked back at me. Weird coincidence. The girl didn't reply, but gazed at me with confusion, as if she didn't understand what I had said. She looks tired, I noted. I waited several minutes for her to answer, but when she continued to stare at me, tears running down her face, I decided on another approach.
I sat myself down next her, putting a hand on her shoulder as an act of comfort, unsure if she would allow me to do anything further. I was, after all a stranger, and the little girl seemed frightened enough as it was. Strangely, she did the exact opposite of what I had expected her to. I watched in amazement as she threw herself at me, crying into my chest. Unsure at what had caused this reaction, I cautiously patted the girl's back, feeling very weird. One moment you're just trying not to think about studying, and the next...
"Do you want me to help find your mommy and daddy?" I asked her gently, feeling like I would upset her even more if I used another tone.
The girl stopped sobbing, and slowly pried her arms off me, her brown eyes, now red and puffy, still looking at me with the same confusion as earlier. And finally, she spoke, her voice like high church bells.
"But... You're my momma," she sniffed, hiccupping in the end.
For a moment, I sat there, shocked, before I concluded that this kid was obviously in shock herself from being lost in this strange place. I took one of her small, white hands, and said softly:" No, I'm not. I think you're a little confused. I think we should go to the secretary's office and report that you're being missed. We'll be able to get you back to your real parents in no time."
The infant looked at me strangely for a moment, before bursting into tears all over again, and throwing herself back into my arms.
"There, there," I soothed her, gently cradling her, so I could pick her up.
I stood carefully and slowly, the small girl in my arms the entire time. She wasn't as light as I expected her to be, and it was hurting my arms to carry her weight, but I held her extra tightly, scared of letting go and making her fall.
We made our way to the secretary like this and when we finally managed to get inside the office, I breathed a sigh of relief and sat the girl down. She looked up as I did so, her face set in a grimace. "Mommy!" She screamed at me.
I set my jaw, getting exasperated. "I'm not your mother. Let us find your actual mother."
She shrank back, getting if possible even smaller as I gazed at her, my expression annoyed. The secretary, a middle-aged dyed red-haired women called Mrs. Cope, choose this moment to arrive, carrying a stack of papers with her.
When she saw the two of us in the entry way, her mouth opened in surprise. "What in the world...?"
"Mrs. Cope, I found this young girl sitting by herself outside, crying. I think she's lost."
Mrs. Cope's expression broke into a kind smile, and I turned to the girl. "Mrs. Cope is a kind lady; she will help you find your family."
"But..." the girl wailed.
The secretary knelt down beside her, stretching her hand out to her. "Don't worry, I won't bite."
The girl started to sob for the third time, and I felt a pang of sympathy for her. I'd been lost when I was little, once too, and it had had me in hysterics."You don't understand! That is my mother right there!" she said, pointing to where I stood.
I looked at Mrs. Cope helplessly, but before one of us could say anything to calm the girl down, she continued: "Isabella Cullen!"
Isabella... Cullen? How did this kid, whom I had never seen before in my life, know my first name? I tried thinking back to the recent events. Had I mentioned it to her? This could only be the case, or how else would she know this? And what about the Cullen part? Surely, I would have introduced myself as Isabella Swan.
The thought of Edward's last name as mine was a little unnerving. On one hand it sent my stomach into a huge whirl of butterflies- but on the other, I couldn't see myself marrying him. If I wasn't even capable of greeting him, how would I ever manage a marriage?
Plus, as it was, I didn't believe in marriage. No couple was made for eternity. I had plenty of examples of that; starting with my own parents. I could not see the point of marrying somebody if it would only lead to a divorce anyway. There was too much stress that came with it.
I frowned and blinked, coming out of a daze as pictures of unhappy singles invaded my mind. Bringing myself back to the present situation, I couldn't help but think...
I was one of them.
The brunette was still wailing loudly, and Mrs. Cope knelt there, her mouth wide open, and her blue eyes darting widely between the child and I. And then she closed her lips, pursing them in speculation. I stood there, feeling awkward and passive, but at lost at what to do. The best thing was to wait for the secretary to come up with a solution to this weird predicament. She was the grown-up here, after all.
After a few minutes, that seemed to drag on forever, the red-head threw her head back and laughed. The sound felt unnaturally loud to my ears, and combined with the crying of the girl made it turn a little cruel.
"Cullen!" Mrs. Cope shrieked, her voice becoming five octaves higher. "Oh, you're a funny one, aren't you m'dear? Seem like a nice sweetheart with the tendency to tell outrageous stories!"
Of course. Why hadn't I thought of that? It was such a simple answer, and it made it hard to believe that I had actually thought for a second that the girl thought that she was telling the truth, and not lying, which was the most obvious conclusion to everything. I looked the child with detest. I hated screaming toddlers, and I hated one's that made horrible mischief. They were annoying, and I couldn't stand adults that thought the little trouble makers as funny, because they weren't humorous, they were whining pain in the asses. I was never having one. I crossed my arms, feeling tired.
"Oh, come here," Mrs. Cope cooed the girl, taking her into her arms. Unfortunately, the child was having nothing of that, and ran over to me instead, hugging my legs. I looked down at her with surprise, but felt my heart melt at the confused and scared looking tiny face looking back up at me. Bending over and enveloping her in a hug, I carefully picked her up, and her legs wrapped themselves around my waist to help. My T-shirt was getting gradually wetter as I carried on patting her awkwardly on the back.
"Why don't you come sit down over there?" Mrs. Cope suggested, pointing to over to the two bright red chairs in front of her desk.
I nodded gratefully, and made my way over; taking twice the amount of time I usually would have, because the girl was weighing me down. It took a whole ten minutes to get her calm again, and when she did, Mrs. Cope inquired the name of her.
"Renesmee Cullen," she sniffed, now sitting on the chair next to mine, though she had grabbed onto my hand when I had let go of her, and was holding it so tightly I was starting to lose any feeling I had with it.
Jeeze. How can she, a girl who looks no older than six, possibly have such a strong grip? I know I'm not the strongest person around, but still... And what type of a name is that? Renesmee? Huh. I think I like it... Yes, it is kind of cute...
The secretary raised her eyebrows at that, frowning. "Are you sure?"
"Yes," Renesmee answered, pulling a pout.
"And what are your parents called?" The fifty year old asked further. Before Renesmee could answer, Mrs. Cope said: " I know of a doctor called Cullen, he's the father of a few students here..."
Before she could finish the sentence, Renesmee cried: "Yes! Please phone him, he's my grandpa!"
For the second of time, Mrs. Cope looked a little taken a back, as if she didn't think it was possible for Dr. Cullen, a man no older than thirty, to have a grandchild. But then, shaking her head in defeat and muttering something unintelligible, she started typing on her laptop, searching for the number of the Cullen household.
No sooner had she started dialing, when the door opened and Alice Cullen strode in, looking stressed.
When her eyes landed on Renesmee, her face broke into a broad smile. "There you are! I've been looking all over for you!"
A little while earlier...
E-pov
"Ugh, I can't believe I'm stuck pretending to eat this shit!" Rosalie complained, picking up a spoonful of the bright green jelly and pulling a disgusted face.
"What is this supposed to be anyway?" she asked no one in particular, sniffing at the green goo and making a retching noise, probably for added effect.
I rolled my eyes at her antics."Have you ever tried shutting up? Or do you enjoy complaining endlessly in our presence?" I asked her, leaning against my seat and glaring at my blonde sister.
Rosalie looked at me for a second, taken aback, before replying snidely:"It's not like you bore anyone else of the family with your little obsession."
My eyes narrowed, and I growled. I did not HAVE an obsession with Isabella Swan. Rosalie smiled sweetly as she saw of her comment had struck a nerve.
"Oooh..." she giggled," What's the problem, Eddie-poo? Scared to admit that the big bad vampire might have feelings for the tiny, insignificant and dumb human girl?"
My hands clenched into fists. "Fuck you, Rosalie. I don't know what the hell you're talking about."
Rosalie laughed highly, seemingly enjoying the opportunity to get under her brother's skin. "Don't kid yourself, honey. You've liked that worthless piece of existence for a long time now..."
"Bella is so kind and smart...She looks incredibly cute... I really hate Mike Newton... " she mimicked Edward, doing an unbelievably good impression of his male voice. "Blah, blah, blah! You like Bella and she doesn't like you! Booo-hoo!"
I stood up so abruptly that the table shook horribly. I grabbed her shoulder with my hand roughly, leering over her, snarling. Rosalie stared back at me, her butter-scotch eyes portraying a great dislike. "If you ever, I repeat ever say shit like that again, I will-"
"Stop it, guys!" Alice shouted, forcefully tearing both of us apart from each other.
Emmet made Rosalie sit back down again, whilst Alice persuaded me to get seated for the second time. Jasper sat with his arms crossed and a frown on his face, wondering if he should step in or not.
"Nothing going on! Just a family disagreement!" Alice told the few students who had turned to stare at the drama, once she was back next to Jasper and Rosalie and I weren't standing anymore. Almost immediately the pupils looked away, starting to feel awkward with the entire clan of weirdo's from the Cullen table look over at them.
"Now," Alice said, folding her two small hands together on the table."Rosalie-" her head swerved over to my sister, who had began running her white hands through her long and curly sun-gold hair, smiling as she thought of how smooth and silky it was. Oh, please- I snorted.
"Rosalie, please refrain from taunting Edward about his crush,-"
Crush? Crush? I did NOT have a crush on Bella... I liked her, maybe, but not a ...
"- it seems to be upsetting him. And Edward-" she looked over to me now, her face stern, her eyes blazing. "Stop searching for arguments with Rose-"
What? Did she honestly think I liked shouting with that stupid, arrogant bitch?
"Maybe you don't," Alice replied to me, before I could say the words out-loud."But it certainly seems as if you do," she sighed. "But that's besides the point-"
I held my hand up, knowing what was to come next. I could hear from her thoughts that a long lecture about how I should just admit my feeling (which I didn't have) about Bella, and then that I should pursue like a great gentleman, because she foresaw that we would end up together, and that-
"Bella will be my best friend and a vampire some day, Edward." Alice informed me, ignoring my glare."Stop denying the future."
"I refuse to be in this family anymore if you make Swan into a monster," Rosalie growled. "I may hate her guts, because she's a stupid little sheep like all of those humans, but no-one deserves this."
By this, she meant being a vampire. By this, she meant endless sleepless nights, being lonely for the rest of your existence, constantly having to hide what you were... By this, she meant being a soulless beast. I agreed with her, though I would never, in my life, admit that to anyone.
"Shut up, Rosalie," I advised her, just for the sake of contradicting her. Okay, so maybe I was lying to myself. I loved annoying my sister.
Jasper held his hand up, looking sheepish. "What?" Rosalie and I snapped at the same time. "Note of observations?" He said, smiling slightly. "We lead really weird conversations."
Emmet's booming laughter was enough for half of the Lunch room to look over, but with a glare from Rosalie, we were being ignored from everyone as per usual.
"I like the way you think!" Emmet responded, holding out his hand for a high-five with Jasper.
Jasper looked at it for a moment before raising his eyebrows. Emmet put his hand down, looking defeated. "Right, I forgot who I was talking to."
Then he grinned again, showing off his dimples. "Alice?" he said.
Alice shook her head amusedly, but then held her hand up and high-fived Emmet. "Alright! Whooho!"
"Behave," Rosalie hissed at her husband.
Emmet crossed his arms, glaring. "Yeah, yeah." And then, very quietly:" No one understands fun around here."
Alice began laughing, but froze half way through. Okay, this seems weird, even for me... The Alice from the vision said, twisting her hands nervously together. This is a message from the future, from Alice Cullen. Edward and Bella's daughter, Renesmee, has accidently been sent to the past. We need you to take care of her while we figure a way out to bring her back...
The scene changed. A small curly haired girl sat on a chair in the secretary's office, her brown eyes swollen red, as if she had been crying. Isabella Swan sat next to her, a nervous and awkward expression on her heart-shaped face. Mrs. Cope was talking: "What's your name?"
"Renesmee Culllen," the girl replied.
For some reason, one that I didn't know, Mrs. Cope was looking as if she found the words of the girl, Renesmee, hard to trust."Are you sure?"
The girl sulked, saying yes. The red-head said further that she knew of a Doctor Cullen, and the child said that he was her grandfather and that Mrs. Cope should call him. The vision ended with Mrs. Cope nodding.
Alice turned to stare at me with wide eyes, looking at me as if she had never seen me before in her life. My mind itself was still not comprehending what it was that I had seen.
I had a daughter? With Bella Swan? But... That was impossible...
Before I could think anything else, Alice had stood up from our table, talking to me in her mind as she did so. Edward, I'm going to have to go to the secretary's office to cover for your daughter. She paused for a moment, brow wrinkling as she contemplated how strange that sounded. Your daughter...
Tell the others what's happened to the meantime, and wait for me and Renesmee-that had been her name, I think- at the car. We obviously can't finish school today after this...
She rushed out of the cafeteria without another word. Jasper watched her go, an alert expression on his face. What was the vision about, Edward? Are vampires coming to Forks?
I shook my head.
"Spit it out already," Emmet hissed. He hated being left in the dark about anything. "You know, not all of us can see the future and read people's minds. Tell me what happened!"
Rosalie herself was staring disinterestedly at her food, though I could tell that she was just as curious as the others. With a deep breath, I began.
A-pov
Oh, I couldn't believe this was actually happening! I felt torn between excitement and shock. I could just imagine all the fun stuff we were going to do together. All the games we would play! And, an excuse to take the girls out shopping! I'd always wanted a baby sister...
I can't wait to meet her! Edward's and Bella's baby! I skipped my way to the secretary's office. It was getting easier to think of the girl as Edward's baby the more time past. How they had- My thought was cut short when another vision in my mind appeared. It was of Renesmee, who was sitting in our living-room and telling us things that would happen in the future.
I froze. My ability helped me see what was going to happen in a weeks' time, and not in a year. It all depended on people's decisions, and because they changed so frequently, it was impossible to see further into the future than that. And now here this was a source that could tell anything we wanted to know about was going to happen in over six years...
It was a worrying thought. What if we changed something drastically, because we didn't like what we heard. Knowing the future was not to be messed with. I arrived at the secretary, and breathed in deeply- an instinct reaction that was completely useless- and threw doors open, making a grand entrance.
"There you are!" I exclaimed when I saw Renesmee, perched on the chair beside Bella. "I've been looking all over for you!"
And then, in a too low voice that the humans in the room wouldn't be able to understand me, hoping Renesmee had vampire hearing, I whispered: "Play along, okay? I'll explain everything later."
I was relieved when Renesmee nodded, ever so slightly. Mrs. Cope, whose hand was poised on the dail buttons, just about to call my house, said: "What was that? I didn't catch the last bit."
I waved a hand dismissively. "Me? I've said nothing," I replied, smiling. "You don't need to call our home," I added, knowing Mrs. Cope wouldn't notice the fact that I had known what she was doing, even though she hadn't told me.
The red-head put back the receiver, and was about to say something more, when Renesmee's scream of delight drowned out her next words.
"Auntie Alice!" Renesmee shouted, grinning broadly and running into my arms. I bent down and caught her, giving my niece a hug for the first time. It felt nice. She let go of me then, grabbing my hand tightly in hers as she did so.
"Thank you so much for finding Edward's little cousin. We lost her and didn't know where she had gone... It was really scary," I told both the secretary, and Bella, who was massaging her left hand and giving me a skeptical look.
"I should think so!" Mrs. Cope said shrilly, her blue eyes shining in anger," Who do you exactly think you are, losing a child like that! You should really be paying better attention than that! It is a highly irresponsible thing to do."
I shrank back, pretending to hang my head in shame. "Yes, I know you're right. I feel really bad about it too..." Then I cleared my throat, not wanting to stay here any longer. "Well, thank you for finding her," I said looking at both women in turn. "I have to go now. The family needs to know that I've found her."
With that, I left the room, Renesmee Cullen by my side.
It was quiet as we walked down the hallway that leads to the parking lot. It was hard to describe my emotions in that particular moment. I felt… I felt unusual, as if there was something wrong. I'd never felt like this before. Maybe, as a human, I had, but -
My mind left Fork's high school, and floated away, trying, unsuccessfully, to remember my past. Sometimes, if I thought hard enough, a blurred image of a petite girl would appear. I had no clue if it was my imagination, inventing someone because I was wondering about it all the time or if it was somebody (me, maybe?) I used to know when I was human.
"Aunty Alice?" A small, sweet sounding voice broke through my musings.
I looked down at the little girl beside me, the unsettled feeling returning. I thought it would be great to spend some time with my niece, but I was scared of the consequences that might come out of this whole thing.
"Yes?" I replied softly.
"I need to use the bathroom." Small, warm brown eyes stared into mine, her face timid.
"Oh… Ok, fine. There's a lady's room right over there," I told her, pointing over to the green colored door at the end of the hall.
"Do you need any help?" I asked as we entered, already knowing that Renesmee would proudly inform me that No, she did not.
"No, I can do it," she puffed up her little chest, like a tiny brave warrior, and closed the door to the stall behind her as she went in.
I smiled to myself, checking my outfit in the mirror in the meantime. Although I did not care for my looks or reflection as much as Rosalie did, I simply loved fashion, and there was no bad time to make sure your clothes look just as fabulous as when you left the house in the morning. Finding everything to be perfect, I turned around just as the stall door opened and Renesmee came out, walking up to the sink.
Seeing that she would be too short to reach the water tap herself, I lifted her up, making her squeal in delight. I grinned at her giggles, helping her cover her hands with some soap, before letting the water wash it all away.
"Done," I smiled, not being able not to give in to temptation and ruffle her curly bronze-like hair. Just like Edward's.
Her face fell with the action, as if she was recalling something terrible. She gave me a trembling smile and I quickly enveloped her in a hug as the tears came rolling down her face, splashing onto my shoulder.
I rubbed her back soothingly."Shhh…" I murmured softly.
"Why doesn't Mommy recognize me?" she wailed, her words coming in short gasps of breath.
I held her even tighter, and she wrapped her legs around me, and I felt heartbroken.
"Renesmee," I started, moving a bit out of the embrace so that she could see my face. A slightly round face with red splotch marks, a runny nose and big, hurt eyes looked back at me, making me want to hug her again.
I had no idea how I was supposed to explain this to her at all.
"You've traveled back in time, and Bella doesn't know you, well, because she's never met you, because you haven't been born yet… Well, of course you've been born, otherwise you wouldn't be here, but you haven't been born now, and Bella hasn't even come into relations with us yet, so… Yeah," I rambled.
"What?" Renesmee gave me a confused expression, before she burst out crying once more, resting her head on my shoulder.
I felt lost; I had no idea what to do. The feeling was very overwhelming; I hadn't experienced anything similar to it, and decided right then and there that I didn't like it very much at all. How do you explain to a child that they've traveled back in time? That nobody knows her because she hasn't been born yet? That we have no idea of what to do with her, of how to bring her back?
If I was small, how would I want to be told this? I growled under my breath. I couldn't remember being small.
"Sweetie?" I whispered, speaking into her hair.
"Yes?" came the muffled reply.
"Something happened and you've been sent here, years before you were born. I don't know how or if there is a reason, but we'll try and get you back to your own time. You need to understand that you've never been born yet and that this is very hard for us, understand?"
I stared at her hurt and lost expression that was now peeking up at me, and hurried on to say, "But that doesn't mean that we don't love you, alright?"
It seemed to take quite awhile to sink in, but she finally nodded meekly and gave me another hug. I smiled in content, promising myself to help her get out of this.
We walked in this fashion, her slung around me, to the car, where the family was already waiting.
They all looked tense, although Edward looked a whole lot more nervous. Jasper smiled at me slightly, but I knew he didn't trust the little girl in my arms at all. Renesmee reminded him too much of an immortal child, and although Edward had informed him Renesmee looked harmless in my visions, he was still uneasy.
As soon as we reached the Volvo, I sat Renesmee down and she ran straight into Edward's arms, a cry of 'Daddy!' escaping her lips. Rosalie gave a quiet puking sound from herself and we all (save an embarrassed looking Edward who was awkwardly trying to hug his daughter), turned to give her a good glare.
She shrugged, pursing her lips as if she thought she was above all of us, making me roll my eyes.
"Dad, I'm scared," Renesmee whispered to Edward, but we all heard her.
Edward looked up to meet my gaze. He would've said What should I do? and I thought back to him, Comfort her!
"Don't be worried, we'll figure this out," he replied. "Ok," Renesmee nodded, and suddenly, it seemed like a switch had been flipped. She was much calmer than before.
She let go of Edward, turned to Emmet, smiled softly, and gave him a hug too. Emmet grinning like a big maniac. "I knew I'd be your favorite uncle," he laughed, giving Jasper a pointed smug stare, to which the latter rolled his eyes and smiled softly at the two of them after analyzing that she certainly was no threat.
Renesmee seemed to expect a hug from Rosalie too, but Rose just stood there, her eyebrows raised and her arms crossed, which made Renesmee's lips tremble, so that Edward had to quickly envelope her in another hug, glaring at Rosalie as he did.
Not wanting an argument to break out, Jasper quickly said: "I'll drive. You can sit in the back with Renesmee, Edward."
"There's not enough room for all of us," Rosalie's cold voice remarked. "Emmet and I will walk."
"We will?" Emmet asked, sounding surprised.
"Yes, we will," Rosalie spat, before clawing at the bigger man's elbow, dragging him along to start up a run that would be impossible to beat with any car.
"Why is Aunty Rosalie so angry?" Renesmee asked, holding onto Edward's hand.
"She's just a bit confused," Jasper muttered.
There was an awkward silence before we all climbed into the car and Jasper drove off.
"You have a very interesting ability," Edward remarked, breaking the quiet.
"But you already know about my power," Renesmee insisted, frowning.
"We don't know you here, remember?" I reminded her, glancing back to see her frowning and Edward looking more lost than she was, which was quite a feat, if you thought about it.
"Oh, yes true," she agreed, "Now that I'm back in time, does this mean that I'll start to fade away if I give away too much of the future?" She pondered, looking at me as if I knew the answer.
I opened my mouth, trying to think of a response, but was stumped. She turned around to Edward, not noticing my hesitation. "What do you think, Daddy?"
Edward jumped a little, and I saw Renesmee just about to ask him why he suddenly looked as if he'd seen a ghost, making me snicker. Edward turned to glare at me as he heard my thoughts, which made me snicker even more, despite the circumstance, before turning back to his daughter.
His daughter, I thought, turning back to look at the road. Wow, how strange. Catching Jasper's gaze, we shared a long, contemplative look, both still without a clue about what to do.
"What do you mean, dissolve?" Edward asked uncertainly.
"Well you know, like in Back To The Future? Marty messes up and stops his parents from being together, and then he just starts to disappear. What if I do that with you and mom? What if I mess up something important? Will I disappear, Dad? Dad, you don't think I'll-"
"No, you won't, because time works differently," Jasper said calmly, cutting into Renesmee's ramble and we all turned to look at him. Jasper glanced back at her, and she seemed to become much calmer as his golden eyes tried to look reassuring.
"I've read a lot of books about time traveling. The subject has always been an interest of mine. There are many things I would like to go back in time for to change," he whispered, looking lost in thought.
I squeezed his arm. He gave me an appreciative look before carrying on. "Time is like a circle. Not a line. Things don't happen like the way we experience them. It's like… It's like this, for example; if we're running somewhere, from –say- Forks' school to our house? We experience every moment of it. One thing happens after the other. The way time works- and this is the common theory- is that not everything happens chronologically, (that's in order, by the way), but simultaneously. You can't destroy the future or dissolve, because, well, this is Edward's and Bella's past. It's always been their past."
Renesmee gave him a confused look and Jasper sighed. "Look at it this way- if they hadn't created you, you wouldn't have accidentally came back in time, and if you destroyed your future, than there wouldn't be any you in the future to come back here to do it. See?"
Jasper smiled and parked the car. With a jolt I noticed we had arrived. Renesmee's mouth was open, and she shook her head no. I smiled weakly at her before getting out of the car.
"What Jasper is saying is that you've got nothing to worry about," Edward explained, "and he's right."
He helped her take off her seatbelt and climbed out of the car. She grabbed his hand again as we walked to the front door of our house. "You have nothing to be afraid of," he informed her, smiling softly.
You're doing a great job as a parent already, I told him through my thoughts, and he smiled at me.
Edward's point of view
Jasper opened the door and let us in. All of my family's thoughts came crashing down on me. Esme and Carlisle were home, which I supposed was good.
Carlisle wanted us to sit down and try and figure out possible ways to get Renesmee back home. Maybe I could inquire her to tell me the story of how this happened, if she remembers.
Esme was looking forward to meeting her grandchild and was already plotting ways to spoil her. They were taking it quite well, I realized suddenly. It made me wonder how they did it. It certainly hadn't run that smoothly when I had told Jasper, Emmet and Rosalie after lunch.
Hell, if I hadn't had needed to act so quickly to make sure Alice got her out of the secretary's office before Renesmee would give away everything we had on stake, than I would've been freaking out worse than anybody else.
Rosalie, Jasper and Emmet certainly did.
Emmet's reaction was simple and also the best. He stared up at me for a while, his face blank, before bursting out laughing and asking, through hiccups of chuckles: "So does this mean that Eddy-bear here finally gets laid? Whoooho! It's been 110 year's worth of sufferable waiting! And here I thought that you might be gay!"
I rolled my eyes as I remembered, fighting back a smile.
Jasper had looked blank, too, his mind in shock, before he frowned and thought over the million and one possibilities of what this could all mean. How did she manage to get here? Will we be able to help her get back? She's not like an immortal child, is she? He thought; his brows furrowed deeply in his own musings.
I shook my head at him. No, the child- Renesmee- my daughter- didn't look anything like one of those young vampires that had been such a horrible pest years back. At least not from what I'd seen.
Rosalie's thoughts stung a little as I read them, but were, as they usually were, quite predictable. I can't believe Edward gets a child and I don't! What does he have that I haven't? All because he slept with that human. I want a child. I want a family. Edward doesn't care about that at all, he never has. I bet he's a terrible father! I bet Bella's even worse. I think-
I cut away from her thoughts, feeling both angry and sorry for her.
Now, I could tell that the thoughts were quite the same. I entered the living room with Renesmee still holding my hand, Jasper and Alice close behind me, only letting go of her fingers as we pulled off our jackets-out of habit more than anything. Emmet and Rosalie were sitting together on the loveseat, while a worried Carlisle and Esme were already up and standing, looking quite nervous.
"Grandpa! Grandma!" Renesmee smiled, going to give them both a hug.
"Hey, Renesmee," Esme greeted back, bending down and planting a small kiss on her forehead, „Why don't you and Edward- I mean you and your dad- go make some food in the kitchen? I'll bet that you must be starving."
At the silence that ensued, Esme hurried to carry on saying:"That's if you eat food, of course. I just assumed because you're part human, you would- although I must say that we only have tinned stuff available (got to keep up the pretences) - doesn't get moldy too quickly, see-"
"That's fine," Renesmee responded, smiling.
I glanced at Carlisle, trying my best to look unimpressed by the idea. We need to talk, but she seems too tired to be a part of the conversation just yet. I think we'll discuss options about getting her home, but let her get some rest first.
I nodded in understanding, but didn't quite get why I had to be the one to distract her while the 'adults' talked. This was my child we were conversing about; I should be a part of the conversation.
"Why can't somebody else do it?" I asked, annoyed, making Renesmee look at me with a hurt expression which I choose to ignore.
Because you're her father. Well, no, not really. At least I wasn't her father yet, but it was no use trying to explain this to Carlisle. I sighed, took Renesmee's hand once more, and walked with her up the stairs and into the kitchen.
Our kitchen was big, spotlessly clean (after all, we didn't use it), and designed by Esme. It had every bit of equipment you could possibly need to cook food with- or so at least I was told, since I had never cooked a meal in my life. Even when I had been human it had been my mother who'd done the cuisine.
We even had some food, just in case a human dropped by around her house for some unknown reason. (Though this never happened.)
Since, of course, none of us ate, there were only groceries that lasted a long time and didn't go off easily, ranging from tinned fruit and vegetables and fruit to stuff like porridge.
There had been an uneasy silence between us since I'd made that stupid remark in the living-room, and I looked down at her trying to smile in a friendly manner. It wasn't that I didn't like Renesmee, I already liked her very much, I just had no idea how to deal with the situation, and the shock was slowly catching up on me.
"So, what type of food do you like?" I asked.
"Well, I enjoy drinking blood, mostly," she replied, making me give a shocked, "Do you really?" from myself.
"Well, yeah, I am half-vampire half-human," she told me, as if it was the most normal thing in the world," But I also really like chocolate," she finished brightly, batting her eyelids.
I could tell from her thoughts that she usually wasn't allowed to eat much of the stuff, and certainly not before she went to bed, because it made her all jumpy for the rest of the night.
"We don't have any," I replied with a frown, and she looked very disappointed.
I started to feel very overwhelmed as I kept on reading her thoughts about the future. A future where Bella was my wife. Where she was my child. What other surprises did the time ahead of me hold? I ran a hand over my face, a horrible feeling settling in my stomach.
Jasper said it didn't matter whether I found out about the future or not, but my instinct was telling me to leave it be. So I tried to pry her thoughts out of my mind.
"Well, what else do you like?" I inquired, walking over to the cupboard and checking what I found inside it. "We have a can of peas and carrots? How does that sound?"
Renesmee crinkled her nose, shaking her head. No to that then, I thought, putting it back. "How about…" My eyes searched for something that I remembered seeing the humans eating, and finally, I found something I recognized. "How about some custard?"
Renesmee's eyes lit up. "Oh, yes, please," she answered, and I smiled, helping her climb onto the chair, and taking the big tin of vanilla custard out. Searching for a bowl and a spoon for her to eat it with then tore off the lid, pouring the slimy, disgusting-looking yellow stuff into the bowl.
I sat down opposite Renesmee, sliding her food over to her, which she hungrily dug in to. As she ate, I took my time to analyze her features. She was petite, with a soft, pale face and a big, wide smile. Her nose looked like mine, her hair was also curly and bronze, but she had Bella's beautiful chocolate-colored eyes. She was wearing a pretty, but simple blue dress that had a white ribbon going around her waist.
I found her very beautiful. What must it be like, to have a daughter? Was this planned or did it, more than likely, given the fact that I didn't even know we could reproduce until now, come as an unexpected surprise?
I tried to shake my thoughts away from the future, which reminded me… "Renesmee, could you do me a favor?"
"Yes, Daddy?"
"Could you try not to mention the future? I know Jasper said it didn't matter, but I still don't think we should know so much about it."
"Ok," Renesmee nodded. "I'll promise not to tell you a thing." She had another spoonful of pudding before wondering aloud, "But what about my thoughts? I can't just shut my thoughts down, and I think about the stuff you want me to keep secret all the time!"
She gave me a worried look. "I'm trying not to read your mind," I told her. She nodded, "Hope that works."
Just then Esme entered the kitchen, and, upon seeing what Renesmee was eating, turned to give me a dirty look. "Pudding? Edward, you should know that this isn't an appropriate meal for supper!" She made an annoyed sounding 'tut', before going to the cupboard herself and pulling out numerous items. "Let me cook you something real, dear," Esme said.
"Oh no," Renesmee replied, moving a curly loose strain of hair away from her eyes, "I really couldn't eat anymore."
"I insist," Esme muttered, beaming happily at her. "My granddaughter deserves real food, not pudding," she added with a glare at me.
I raised my hands in defense. "Hey, just because I don't spend all of my time watching those cookery shows on TV like you…" I countered, giving her my best 'I'm just a poor, innocent vampire' look.
"Yes, yes," Esme replied, rolling her eyes. "Now get out- Carlisle wants to talk to you."
"He's up in his study, getting ready to leave to go the hospital," she informed me, pushing me out of the kitchen.
I grumbled good-naturedly, accusing her of 'manhandling' me, but went off to Carlisle never-the-less, walking passed Alice and Jasper who were staring into their eyes, having a silent conversation I tried to avoid hearing about, before reaching my mentor's study.
"Edward," he nodded in greeting. "This is what we have decided," he said, cutting to the chase, "We need to see if Alice gets any more visions from the future. Maybe they'll- I mean the future us- will be able to help us get her back. Otherwise, we're going to have to start researching to see if we find anything. Jasper has already said that he knows where we'll find books that could be helpful."
He sighed, putting on his coat and heading to the door. "Until then, Renesmee has to stay here. We can't have her running around in Forks without any supervision, though, so we've agreed to take shifts and stay at home with her until we figure this whole thing out. You take the first one, Alice is after you, than Emmet, than Jasper, Esme, Rosalie, and than me. We'll keep repeating the pattern until we've found a way to bring her home. I really hope that we do."
"Don't you think that it will be quite suspicious if we keep skipping school like this?" I asked.
"We'll use the cover story Alice used when she picked Renesmee up at the secretary. She's your cousin and staying with us for a while, because my brother and his wife are on their second honeymoon. Reneesme's been feeling sick lately and since we don't have that much time, we're taking shifts to look after her. It's not my best excuse, but it will have to do."
"Right," I said, wondering how the hell we were going to live with a child that was practically human under our roof. It all became too much to handle, even if I was a vampire and really shouldn't be overwhelmed about anything.
"I need to go for a walk," I muttered.
Carlisle nodded, opening the door and walking down the stairs and to his car while I ran away from my life in a flash, feeling nothing but the cold wind and the horrible sensation of being frightened.
Bella's point of view
I sighed, crossing out what I'd just written for what seemed to be the up tenth time. I'd been writing and rewriting my English essay, my mind never staying on the subject.
It was drifting, rather, to a peculiar case that consisted of a curly-haired little girl. I kept replaying what had happened in the office- Alice coming in, telling us she'd been looking all over for her cousin who they'd lost her by accident. She then just whisked the child away that had insisted on calling me 'Mom' and branding me with the surname 'Cullen'. All of it didn't really add up. For one thing, I don't think I can imagine Alice or any of the other Cullens just losing the six-year-old by mistake, and I really don't understand why Renesmee- that was her name- mistook me as a part of her family.
She was probably confused, I thought.
My own mom had left when I was ten. It had been a Wednesday, and she had been supposed to pick me up from school and drive me home. I waited a whole hour before giving up and walking. Staying true to what the town was known for, it rained heavily.
I came home feeling very sad and drenched from head to toe. Where was my Mommy and why hadn't she come to get me?
I knocked at the door and found her opening it, suitcase in hand. She had jumped when she saw me, like she hadn't expected to. I asked her what was going on, but she ignored me, walking straight past me and into her car. I can't tell you when I started crying, but it lasted until Charlie came home that day. She only said one thing to me, and I've memorized every word of it.
"I can't do this anymore, Bella. I just can't. I'm sorry."
And with that, she was gone. I never saw her again. Nothing had ever hurt so much in my life.
Sighing, and feeling very much exhausted, I rubbed my eyes and decided to lie down for a little while, hoping to dream of a better world.
Author's Note: Don't know if I like this, but I've decided to upload it anyway. Really hope I'll be updating more often now that I've got a bit of time. Happy new year, btw! ;D Review,pls? :-)