It's been a year. A whole year. I'm still in shock.
Exactly one year ago today, I brought Renesmee into this world. And also, exactly one year ago today, Edward brought me into his.
One year of being a family. I'm not one to celebrate, but I had to admit I was in the mood for a small celebration of my own. Two, if you want to count private time with Edward as celebration, but I had that every night.
Nothing big, just a little party for Nessie (the nickname stuck for good with me after the Volturi's visit last winter). Invite Charlie and his new fiancee, Sue, Seth and Leah (who's finally beginning to chill, thanks to Nessie's talent of winning people over, and is actually fun to have around now), and Jacob, of course. No force of the mortal or immortal world would hold him back from spending this day, or any day, with Nessie.
At least, that's what I wanted.
Alice had her own plans.
The house had been decked out once again with twinkle-lights, but also tons of pink and ivory streamers and balloons. It looked like the birthday party for the average five-year-old, not one-year-old.
Then again, Nessie wasn't your average one-year-old. She looked like the five-year-old that was expecting this party. No one besides the residents of the Cullen house were there, yet there was already a mountain of presents taller than Renesmee piled up and waiting.
Edward had Nessie at our cottage, hiding her from the preparations. I was here, though, on a mission of my own.
"There better be nothing planned to celebrate my rebirth, Alice." I was following her around the house as she made sure everything was in place for when the guests arrived.
"For the thousandth time, no," she rolled her eyes at me, "we planned this party for Nessie and Nessie only. Chill out, will you? You're making me nervous."
"Hah! You did plan something!" I pointed my finger at her accusingly.
"What are you talking about? You're going crazy. I told Edward to keep you at the cottage. He obviously didn't listen."
"You said 'this party' just now! Meaning there's more than one!" I was pleased with myself. "And he knew my intentions on staying here with you, and didn't get in the way." I gave her a smug smile.
"Damn. You caught me."
"Good. You have time to cancel it."
"Not likely. Deal with it." She stuck her tongue out at me and walked to the back door and spoke out it, her soprano voice not much higher than a yell, "Edward! You can bring Nessie! We're done! And so you know, Bella's on to us!"
Us? Great.
Edward and Nessie were there in about two seconds. Edward had a handkerchief tied around her eyes so she couldn't see, so she still swung her head around like she was trying to find something. He leaned in to kiss me, and I leaned away from him, raising my eyebrow at him. All he did was laugh.
"I see you don't like our plans," he said, cocking his own eyebrow at me. He passed Nessie off to Rosalie, not removing the hanky. "Look, we didn't go as far out as we did here. So, please, don't worry too much, okay? It's small. At our place. Okay?"
I sighed. "Fine. It better be small, though. No crazy presents." My mind went to my Ferrari that was sitting in the garage. I dropped my shield for him to see, and he laughed.
"Daddy!" Nessie's voice rang from Rose's arms. He knew what she wanted, but he humored her, anyway. He walked over to her and let her put her small hand on his cheek.
"She wants to take the hanky off," he smiled. "She's confused." He chuckled quietly. "Just a little longer, honey. We're waiting for Auntie Alice to give us permission to take it off."
"Auntie Alice is almost done! Promise" Alice sang out from the other room, setting up the refreshment table for our non-vampire guests on the way. I heard her put out silverware and plates. "Done!"
Edward went to remove the hanky from Nessie's face, and I grabbed his hands. "Let me, please! I've been following Alice around all morning and I've been dying to see Nessie's reaction. Please?" I looked up at Edward, my eyes, with only the slightly hint of red left in them, pleading. I knew he couldn't resist it.
"Go for it," he said, smiling that smile I loved so much. Nessie fidgeted in Rose's arms. "You might want to be quick, though," he said, glancing at our anxious daughter.
I didn't waste another second. I carefully removed the hanky from Nessie's eyes. I could have easily torn it off, but it was so pretty and looked like an antique. Edward shot me a glance and mouthed "thanks" to me. My guess it that it was his mother's.
She looked around, her chocolate eyes wide. She put her palms on our faces, one on each of our cheeks, and replayed what she saw. She loved it.
"It's all for you, Nessie! Happy Birthday!" Alice chimed. Nessie squealed in delight. She wiggled out of Rose's arms and jumped down gracefully, her golden curls bouncing as she ran around to examine her party. Alice was already snapping photos. We made it a point to avoid anything to show that it's her first birthday, just to be safe. Nessie ran up to me and put her small hand on my cheek. She played pictures of Charlie, Sue, Seth, Leah, and Jacob.
"Yes, they will be here soon! They can't wait to see you on this special day!" As soon as I said that, there was a knock at the door. She looked at the door with a big grin on her face. "You want to get it, sweetie?"
Her eyes got big again and her grin was even bigger. She clapped her hands in excitement, usually one of us gets the door for her, or we carry her. She skipped to the door at a speed one would see in a teenager rather than a toddler, and opened it, still beaming. I could smell Charlie and Sue outside, along with the smell of paper and ribbon.
"Grampa!! Auntie Sue!" Nessie jumped into Charlie's waiting arms.
"Hi, Nessie! Happy birthday, sugar!" He kissed her forehead. "Look at you, answering the door. You're a big girl now!" I loved seeing them together. Charlie was such a great grandfather.
He looked at me. "Hey, Bells!" He walked over to me, still holding Nessie, and kissed my cheek. He shivered a little at the coldness of my skin, but he didn't flinch. He was used to it by now. He looked at Sue and nodded her over. I then realized the paper and ribbon smell came from her. She was holding some packages for Nessie.
"Oh, let me take those!" I relieved her of her burden. "Hi, Sue!" I kissed her cheek as she kissed mine. She was used to being around vampires at this point. Thanks to Nessie, of course.
"Thanks. They were getting heavy! Your father offered to carry them, but I refused. He needed his arms free." She passed a glance towards him, silently showing why he needed free hands. He was still holding Nessie. She was holding her hands to his face, showing him things of today. Playing with Edward while she waited for the party to be ready, wondering what Auntie Alice was up to, why I left so soon after she woke up, et cetera.
"Is Seth and Leah on their way? Nessie told me she hoped they would be here."
"They're actually almost here. Leah wanted to drive, and they needed gas. I asked why they just didn't run here, it would be faster, but Seth said they needed their thumbs." She chuckled. More gifts for my spoiled little girl.
"They'll be here in about five minutes. I'm starting to hear them." Edward said from behind me. "They filled the back seat with gifts from just about everyone in La Push. Some are for you, too. Those are from Seth and Jacob, really."
"Why doesn't Jacob have the gifts?" I asked him.
"Because I need my hands to run. The Rabbit's too slow," Jacob answered for himself. He was standing in the doorway. He must have gotten here during my conversation with Edward. Nessie leaped from Charlie's arms to run to Jacob, her hands instantly going to his cheeks.
"Yes, I came. I would I miss my Nessie's birthday?" I stifled my hiss. It was getting easier to fight my annoyance with the fact that my best friend will eventually be my son-in-law, and has already claimed her.
"You didn't go overboard with the gifts, did you?" I asked him, making sure the motherly tone was emphasized.
"No, I didn't. I got her a few things, maybe three. You have two, but one's from Billy." He gave me a smug grin. Even in this new life, I didn't like receiving gifts. He knew this.
"Ugh. Well, I'll open them after Nessie's party. She comes first."
"That's fine. You're opening them regardless." He still looked smug. I punched his arm playfully. "Ow. You're still quite strong, you know." He rubbed his arm and it was my turn to put on the smug face.
Another knock. Much to Jacob's surprise, Nessie leapt from his arms (she never does that) to answer the door. Seth and Leah were finally here, hidden behind mountains of gifts.
"The ones in my stack that aren't birthday paper are Bella's," Leah stated, her voice muffled by the packages.
"So is the big one in mine," Seth added. I groaned. Everyone laughed. Emmett and Rose took some of the gifts from them and put them on the table with the rest. Alice was still snapping photos of everything. More than usual, it seemed.
"Hey, Jazz." Edward spoke while looking at me, his back to the stairs where Jasper emerged from, holding another wrapped gift. He rolled his eyes.
"So much for being subtle. This is another Bella-gift, from Alice and me." He held up the gift and looked at Alice. She pointed to my pile in the back corner of the room. All of Nessie's gifts were front and center. Nessie was staring at them, still wide-eyed. She walked over to Edward and put her hand on his face.
"Yes, they are all for you," he replied to her silent question, hugging her. She giggled in excitement.
That's when Carlisle and Esme walked down the stares, carrying even more packages. I stared in shock.
"These aren't from us, Bella," His words calmed me down. "But they have been hiding in our closet for what feels like ages. They're from abroad. Tanya's family, the Amazons, just about everyone who's met Nessie. And don't worry, Bella. No one really knows it's technically your birthday, too, except Tanya and company. They just sent a small package." He pointed to a small box on the top of his pile.
Still too big, in my opinion. I just sighed.
Nessie touched Jacob's face. "She wants to know if she can open them, yet."
"Not yet, sweetheart! There's something we need to do first!" Alice exclaimed. She ran to the kitchen as Rosalie shut off the lights. Alice reappeared with a beautifully decorated cake with a half-dozen candles lit on it. It was pink with white "ribbons" on it. On top had "Happy Birthday, Renesmee!" in white script. Alice really outdid herself on this one. It was beautiful. We all sang to Nessie and she blew out the candles. We cheered and she clapped.
After Alice handed out cake to everyone who would eat it (red velvet-I didn't know if it was a joke or because Alice thought it would be pretty, but I didn't ask), Renesmee stared at this gifts, her half-eaten cake in front of her.
"When you're done, Nessie," Jacob whispered in her ear. She continued eating her cake, her eyes locked on her packages. I had to smile at her eagerness. It was like any normal child of five. Although it passed faster than any other child, her life was normal. Or at least mostly so.
She finished her cake and said aloud in a mildly annoyed tone to Jacob, "Okay, I'm done. Can I open them now?" We all laughed.
"Yes, sweetie, you can. But let us hand them to you, okay?" Edward said, taking a seat besides Jacob. Nessie sat in Jacob's large lap, beaming with excitement.
I sat next to the gifts and went to grab one, but Alice stopped me. "No. You have to sit and watch her better. Let us." Rosalie came beside her and grabbed a gift. Alice already had her camera ready. I went to sit on Jacob's other side.
Rosalie handed a package to Nessie. She looked at it, examining it. "To Nessie; Love Tanya, Kate, Garrett, Eleazar, and Carmon." She smiled and ripped open the package. Inside was a beautiful blanket decorated with Eskimo designs. She hugged it tightly. "Pretty!" she exclaimed. She didn't want to let it go when Edward put his hand out to take it to free Nessie's hands for the next package Rosalie held.
"If you don't let go, you can't open the rest!" he teased. The realization hit her and she handed the blanket over to him. He folded it up and put it behind him.
Next was from the Amazons, a beautiful pouch made from animal skins. Everyone sent little trinkets and clothing for her. Of course, she loved it all. Leah gave her a doll, and it made me remember that she didn't really have any dolls. That upset me a little, but when one of Charlie's gifts was a doll, too, I felt better. At least she was going to have a few to make up for lost time.
She went through each package, thanking everyone there as she went. Alice snapped away with her camera, not wanting to miss a moment. I gave her some novels that I loved in high school and Edward gave her a small violin to learn. She liked that. "Now I will be able to make music with Daddy!" she exclaimed when she opened it. We knew she would learn quickly.
The last package she had was Jacob's. He carved her a pendant similar to the charm he made me, but it was slightly bigger and more detailed. He had it on a gold chain for her, and of course she loved it. "I match Mommy now! Now I have a little Jacob, too!" she exclaimed when he put it on her. I had taken up the practice of wearing my bracelet with my diamond heart and small wolf every day since the Volturi came and I almost lost them both. Nessie had seen it one day with Jacob over, and commented that I had a "little Jacob" and she wanted one, too. I noticed the other charm on her necklace before she did.
"What's that, Jacob?" I asked, looking at the small crystal heart on the chain, about the size of a pencil eraser.
"Well, she really liked your bracelet so I figured I should try to do what I can to recreate it. A diamond that size," he pointed at my wrist, "isn't exactly in my budget. So I found this little crystal one and attached it to the wolf." He shrugged like it was no big deal.
I knocked him over with my hug. It was like his own way of saying that we were going to share her. Nessie laughed as we fell over backwards, as well as the onlookers.
The party continued for a few hours, everyone taking turns playing with Nessie or chatting. At one point Edward played the piano a little and Nessie sat there with him, singing to some of the songs. "I can't wait to make music with you, Daddy," she told him at the end of a song. We had books hidden at the cottage about learning violin, so we knew it wouldn't be long with the way she learns.
After a while Emmett entered the room with more packages. My packages. "Bella's turn!" he exclaimed, ginning at me while I glared at him. He dropped the gifts and ran out the back door with me almost on his heals.
"Get back here, you big doofus! I need to hit you!" I said, chasing him around the outside of the house. Everyone was amused by this, especially Nessie. Eventually I stopped in the shadow by the door, putting my finger to my mouth to tell Nessie to be quiet because I was going to startle Uncle Emmett. Emmett kept running, and I pounced on his back from the shadow, startling him and knocking him over. I punched his shoulder. His "ow" was silent, but everyone, even Charlie, heard it. They laughed.
"Got that out of your system, little sister?" he asked, laughing at me. I sat on his chest, still pinning him down. I was still slightly stronger than him.
"Almost." I punched the other arm. His "ow" was a little more prominent. "I'm good now." I let him up and we went back inside.
I sat on the couch in front of the gifts. Maybe "flopped" is a better word, if you want to call the graceful falling into the seat a "flop." It was a vampire flop.
"Lets get this over with," I moaned. Edward sat next to me and everyone gathered like we did for Nessie.
"Don't worry, Mommy. It's fun!" Nessie said to me from the other side of the pile.
I sighed. At least it was a small pile.
Edward started like Nessie with Tanya's gift, handing the small box to me. I opened it slowly and revealed a skinny silver bracelet, the ends twisted together into a large infinity symbol. It was beautiful. With it was a note, which I read aloud. "To our Bella, who we hope to have in our family for all eternity." If I could cry I would have. I examined the bracelet again, unable to take my arms away. Inside was an inscription, "Always separated, but never apart." I slipped the bracelet on, the silver shinning on my pale skin.
I went through the other gifts quickly. Carlisle and Esme gave me some antique copies of some of my favorite books (I was going to ask how they managed to acquire them, but then I remembered the family I was a member of), Rosalie gave me some nice designer clothes, Emmett gave me a personal DVD player (with a note that after reading I balled up and nailed him in the face with), Charlie and Sue gave me a beautiful silver heart necklace from Tiffany's (I recognized the blue box and white ribbon instantly and raised my eyebrow at them-they just shrugged at me), and the Quileutes gave me a traditional Native American blanket for the cottage (which is why the box was so big). Jacob carved a photo frame for me, just as detailed as the charms, with a photo of Nessie in it. I knocked him over again for that one, diving over the now nearly empty table. "It's so beautiful! Stop outdoing yourself, man!" I told him when I we landed.
Finally there was only one package left on the table, the one Jasper brought down earlier. I picked it up and he smiled next to Alice and they exchanged a glance. I looked at them confused, but started to rip the paper off, anyway. I opened the box to find a beautiful scrapbook inside. It was full of photos of the past year. Photos of the wedding started it off. Then photos of a baby Renesmee (I was still changing during that point), followed by photos of everyone. Edward on the piano, me holding Nessie and laughing, Emmett laughing while watching TV, Jasper with Alice, even a photo of Rose and Jacob giving each other their normal looks of disgust at the other's presence. Every page was done up beautifully with papers and stickers and other fun accents. If I could cry I would have been a mess. I could feel the tearless sobs in my chest.
"Wow, I love it. It's so beautiful..." I said meekly. I could barely find my words. I kept flipping through pages. All the photos looked professional with nice composition and everything. It was perfect. Then I turned the page and the paper and details were there, but there were no photos. "What happened to the photos here?"
"Those pages are for the best photos from tonight. I had too much fun with the papers and things that I decided to set them up for you. We'll go through these later," she said as she waved her camera in the air.
"I want a family portrait." I told her. "Set the timer on that thing and come on!"
We all got on and around the couch, and let the camera take our photo from the top of the TV.
Soon after we were done with gifts people started to leave, one by one, until it was only Jacob left over. Nessie was yawning at least once every five minutes at this point in his arms.
"We should get her to bed," I said, coming over to collect my dozing daughter.
Jacob laid down and kept her on his chest. "Not tonight. Tonight she's with me. They're going to give me one of the beds upstairs."
"This is my gift for you," Edward whispered in my ear. I understood completely. His gift was alone time without worrying about Nessie for the night.
"In that case, I guess I need to get all of these packages to the cottage," I said, eyeing the combined loot of Nessie and myself. There was quite the haul.
"See you in the morning," Jacob said to me, his voice showing signs of a long day coming to an end. I heard Emmett snicker behind me. I threw a ball of wrapping paper at him, which only made him laugh harder. Rosalie hit him this time, whispering something about "waking Nessie." I chuckled to myself as I piled on the gifts into my arms. Edward did the same. We could easily get it in one trip.
We arrived at the cottage without difficulties and put Nessie's gifts away in her room. We walked into ours and he wrapped his arms around my waist. "Happy birthday, Bella." He kissed me after that, giving me the first taste of his overnight birthday present.
"Happy birthday to me," I whispered back. He pulled me to the bed, where we stayed in each other's arms until the morning.
It was my favorite birthday yet. Edward being there with me only made it better.
I can't wait until next year... I thought to myself. I'll keep that thought to me, though.