I looked at Edward. His eyes were the beautiful golden that I would never get sick of, even though now I would occasionally have the same exact ones. I took in his utter beauty, his pale skin and his messy hair. He did nothing to it this morning, which didn't surprise me. We drove through a patch of pure sunlight and his body glittered like crystals, and I looked down at my arm and up again. Finally I heard Renesmee chime in from the back seat, "Dad, Mom's doing it again!"
Renesmee and I giggled and then she smiled at Jake who was strapped in the back seat. He sat and just gazed into my daughter's beautiful dark brown eyes. I reached back and caressed her cheek as she kept her beautiful smile on her face. Jake looked at me then back at Renesmee. "I swear, when you smile, it takes pure evil not to smile back," he said gently, with the voice he only used with her. It was hard to look at him as the lover of my daughter, the one wolf who imprinted on her, and not my best friend as I had for many years before.
"Edward, you're awfully quiet. Are you okay?" I looked towards my husband with concerned eyes, which he didn't even notice.
Finally, he gently muttered, "Yes, Bella. I'm fine." Knowing I wouldn't get anymore out of him, I left it at that. Didn't matter that he couldn't read my mind, he knew we were going to talk about this later. The rest of the short drive felt like hours and hours to us both. When we reached Charlie's house at last, Edward stayed in the car. I walked Renesmee up the sidewalk to the cozy house I used to call home.
"There's my girl!" I heard Charlie yell when he opened the door. I smiled and gave him a hug, even though he wasn't talking to me.
"Edward and I have a couple of things to do. We'll be back in about three hours." I bent down to Renesmee and whispered very sincerely, "I love you baby doll," and gave her a hug.
Before he walked in the door, Jake turned to me and smiled. "Don't worry. I'll protect her from Charlie's 'hugs of death!'" I smiled back and waved goodbye. Finally I was back in the car and Edward took off.
He gave me this lets-get-it over-with look, and so I asked him " What was going on back there?"
He rubbed his forehead and looked at me. "I was just thinking about James and Victoria."
I'll admit, that took me by surprise. "Edward, they're gone! we took care of them! Out of all times, why now? Things have been silent for a while, we don't need to-"
"Exactly! Nothing! No Volturi! No passing troublemakers! No nothing! It makes me think something is coming, and no doubt it will be undesirable." He cut me off. We were silent for five minutes after that.
During this time, I thought about what he had said. What if James knew other covens, just as we do? Why had the Volturi been quiet for so long? Did Aro have something to do with this? These were questions I had to find the answers to, and fast. I never know when I'll need it.