Renesmee

*This story ignores the fact that Alice can't see Jacob and Renesmee.

I went through the King's of England in my head as I waited for my parent's to put their luggage in the car. It sounded silly, especially to my father who kept glancing my direction, but it was the only way to keep a secret when your father could read your thoughts. And even though he only read the thoughts going through my head at the moment he was near me—thank goodness—it was a pain when the thoughts I didn't want him to hear kept going through my mind. It was crucial though, that he didn't know. If he read them, he would tell my mother in a second and then, well, then the yelling would begin. Only, they wouldn't be angry with me. They were my thoughts, yes, but they would inevitably blame the object of my thoughts.

I found it hard to blame them, when I wasn't angry. After all, I had only been alive for seven years, but physically I was the same age as my forever-frozen mother, Bella. To her though, and to my father Edward, I would always be their beautiful, unique baby girl…and I hadn't truly been a baby since they day I was born. It also didn't help that when I said always, I meant forever—literally. My parents were vampires, forever frozen at the ages of seventeen and eighteen, and I had stopped growing at a once terrifying rate about a week ago. Now I wouldn't grow or age at all and I would live and breathe for eternity…as far as we knew anyway.

I moved onto the Tsars of Russia as my parents hugged me goodbye.

"I love you, Ness, be good," my father warned. He always got nervous when I blocked him.

"I'm always good," I retorted. It was mostly true.

My mother pulled me into a hug that was still tighter than was necessary. "I love you, Renesmee."

"I love you, too, mom." It would have seemed strange to an outsider, me calling her mom because we looked like sisters, twins almost. It didn't help that, physically speaking, my father was younger than both of us. It was just normal in the Cullen household though.

They finally got in the car and sped down the drive. I didn't stop reciting in my head until I heard them pull onto the highway. My first urge was to go back to the cottage that was mine for as long as my parents were gone. I hadn't been alone very much in my life and it was a little unnerving. I wouldn't be alone for long though. I could already hear the familiar pattern of paws hitting the earth; he would be here soon.

My heart beat even faster than it normally did and I smiled as I set off at a run toward the cottage. I wanted to beat him there. It was silly, but we'd been doing it most of my life and I couldn't help it. Sure, I was physically an adult and I had an intellect that would put the vast majority of middle-aged humans to shame, but sometimes, when my family wasn't watching, I liked to just be kid. I had eternity to be an adult…I had only truly been a carefree child for a few months. There was only one person who could truly understand that.

I leaned against the door to the cottage seconds before he emerged from the trees. As always, he was clad only in cut off shorts and nothing else. He had a supply of shirts inside, but when my parents weren't home he didn't bother. He grinned as he sauntered over to me. I was glad he couldn't read my thoughts; I knew more than he thought I did about our relationship. Contrary to my very adult—okay, teenage—hormones, I wasn't ready for our relationship to change yet. It would change though, not today, but soon…very soon. I couldn't keep things from Jacob very long.

"I beat you," I teased.

He rolled his eyes. "Yeah, because I had to phase and get decent."

"It's not my fault you run through the woods naked." I was just teasing him, really, but images of him phasing back into a human in front of me suddenly filled my head. At that moment I was even happier that my father was half way to the airport.

His grin widened and he walked even closer to me. "Next time I'll beat you then phase."

I pursed my lips, ignoring the thoughts racing through my mind. "It's cute how you think that'll work."

He was standing in front of me now, his arms one either side of my head as he leaned against the house. I could feel the heat from his body, smell the scent of his olive skin that was only pleasant to me, and I could heart his heart beating normally. He had no idea. His kissed my forehead, like he did everyday, but today I felt it linger on my skin…that didn't happen everyday.

His thick, black brows furrowed over his equally dark eyes. "Something wrong?"

I smiled and shook my head too quickly, even for a half-vampire. "Of course not. Are you hungry?"

His eyes narrowed perceptively, but he didn't push the issue. "When am I not hungry?"

"I'll fix you some lunch," I promised. I had wanted to be alone with him, but it was suddenly very different than what I had imagined it would be. "Let's go to the house."

I ducked under his arm but he suddenly caught me by the waist and picked me up from behind. "Nessie," he whispered directly into my ear. "Something is wrong."

I couldn't hide the chill that ran down my spine. "Not wrong, just different," I told him. It was the truth; I wasn't good at lying to him. I got that from my mom.

He set me down and took my hand, palm to palm like he'd done my whole life. It was how adults held hands with children so they wouldn't loose them in a crowd. I'd never thought of it that way before but it seemed inappropriate now.

"Don't tell me you miss them already."

Finally, the perfect lie—mostly because it wasn't a lie. "They are my parents and I do love them."

"Sure, sure." He nodded and grinned at me.

I laughed. This felt more like the relationship we had. "They've never left me before, so it is different."

His face softened. In this case, he understood my parents completely. "They didn't really want to leave you today either."

"I know," I whispered. If my mother could cry, there would have been tears in her eyes when she'd gotten in the car.

"They didn't want to miss anything before but you're not gonna change anymore," he explained even though he knew I knew it already.

In some ways though, I couldn't quite agree with him. I was still changing, just not physically. I wished there was someone I could talk to about this, but everyone I knew would overreact. Everyone except my Aunt Alice…she would see this coming anyway.

"I won't leave you," he said smugly.

"You don't have a choice." It slipped out before I'd thought it through. His hand constricted around mine and he stopped walking. I couldn't look at his face; I could see it in my mind and that was hard enough. "I'm sorry," I whispered. I was.

"Why do you say it like that?" he whispered.

I heard the pain in his voice and it hurt me too. Unlike my mother, I could cry. I didn't want to though. I remembered the day I'd told him that I knew about the imprinting. On some level I'd always known about the bond between us; I remembered the look in his eyes when he'd looked at me for the first time. It didn't bother me, it never would, but sometimes it was hard to get Jacob to understand that. The only time he'd ever yelled at me or been angry with me at all was the day he'd come over to find me reading the Quiluete legends.

He had fought with my mother too. They were best friends, yes, but sometimes I got the feeling that they fought over me. She had said I had a right to know. He had wanted to explain it to me himself, when the time was right. I'd left the room without them realizing for the first time in my life. My Aunt Alice had been in the kitchen, making Jacob a snack, and she'd promised me that they would cool down in a few minutes.

That was also the day I'd found out about their past together. It was just another wrinkle in the complex life we all lead here and it didn't matter to me. Again, it never would. He loved me, he always would, but to him it always came back to the same thing…he didn't have a choice and I knew that.

"Jake, we've talked about this. It doesn't matter to me. Besides, I have less of a choice than you think I do." This argument never worked, but it was true. I was attached to him; he'd been an integral part of my life literally from the moment of my birth. Still, he couldn't get past the fact that I didn't have some weird, genetic thing that gave me absolutely no choice. "I'm sorry I said it."

He didn't say anything and I finally looked up at his face. I hated seeing him like this, especially when I was the cause. He would give me anything I wanted, or so the legend said, but I wanted him to have peace of mind. Apparently it didn't quite work that way. I did what I always did when he was stubborn. I reached up and put my hand on his cheek. Over the years I had worked to not only convey my thoughts, but to also convey my emotions. I wanted him to feel what I was feeling.

"I know, Nessie," he breathed and covered my hand with his. "You don't care."

"When I say it, I mean it."

His stomach suddenly growled and reminded us where we were going in the first place. We both laughed and the tension was gone; it never lasted long between us anyway.

When we got to the house, I had to find a way to get Alice alone. Of course I should have known that she knew exactly what I wanted. She came down the stairs as soon as we walked in the door. "Hey, Nessie!" she greeted. "Jake!"

"Hey, Alice," we said in unison. It was practically a ritual. We greeted everyone in unison when we were together.

"Nessie, can I talk to you? Privately?" she asked with her customary, knowing smile.

I looked at Jacob once and smiled my apology. "I'll get you when the foods ready," I promised.

"Sure, sure." He bent down and kissed the top of my head. "See ya."

Jasper came down the stairs as Jacob relinquished my hand. He knew what that meant: setup. But as usual, Jacob was a good sport about it when he knew that it was something I wanted. So Jasper easily steered him outside and out of hearing distance.

"Everything will be fine," Alice promised me.

It didn't matter how long I had lived with her, it was still a little frustrating to have conversations with my aunt. "What will be fine?"

"Your relationship with Jacob," she explained. "It's going to change, but it'll be good. And don't worry about Bella and Edward; they decided a long time ago that they would be okay with it. They love Jacob and they know that the only reason he would feel that way about you is if you feel that way about him."

But then I always felt better when I did. "Thank you, Aunt Alice."

She smiled. "Aren't you going to make Jacob enchiladas?"

I stared at her, hoping she was teasing. No, she was serious…of course she was. "I don't think I've ever made enchiladas."

"I'll help. He wants ten."

My eyes widened, but Alice set to work. Even though Jacob was the only one who really ate human food, we still had an impressive stockpile. I'd started to like it more and more as the years went by; I liked eating meals with Jacob. Plus, if I ate human food I didn't have to hunt nearly as often as my family.

Alice did most of the work so I was able to run out and have Jacob back by the time they were done.

"Thanks, Alice!" he said when he sat down to the steaming plate of food.

"I helped!" I complained.

He suddenly pulled me into his lap and nuzzled my neck like he did when he was a wolf. Somehow it didn't feel the same when he was human. It was too intimate.

"Thank you," he whispered in my ear.

My heart raced and everyone could hear it. A blush crept up my cheeks and I hopped off his lap so he wouldn't see. Of course, it was easy to get away from him when there was delicious food on the table.

Alice winked at me. Maybe our relationship was going to change today.

"Wanna try one?" Jacob asked between bites.

It did smell pretty good for human food. I tended to like things with a lot of spices and Alice hadn't been stingy with them. "Sure."

He cut off a piece of one and held the fork up to my mouth. I hesitated for a fraction of a second, but took the bite. It did taste good—for human food, but I hardly noticed because Jacob was eyeing me. There was a question in his eyes and I didn't want to answer it. "So I was thinking we could go to La Push today," I suggested before he could even open his mouth.

"Okay," he agreed slowly. "Wanna go to First Beach?"

"Yeah, it's been awhile."

"Sounds fun."

He finished his lunch quickly; he finished everything quickly. After all, he liked being alone with me too. It wasn't that we did anything we had to hide; we just liked being alone sometimes. Before we left I had to ask my aunt one more question. There was no way to avoid Jacob hearing me, so I asked her as cryptically as I could. "One more thing, Aunt Alice."

She smiled expectantly. "What?"

"When?"

As always, she knew exactly what I meant. Still, I could have screamed when she shook her head. "Some things in life are meant to be a surprise. To you, anyway."

I stared at her open-mouthed. It simply wasn't fair. I glared at my Aunt for the first time in my life…she smiled back. "Fine."

Jacob was by my side, looking down at me. His brow furrowed—that was happening a lot lately—and he took my hand, practically dragging me to the garage. He knew I would want to drive. A few weeks before I had stopped growing, my father had produced a birth certificate that said I was eighteen years old. My mother had been furious because she'd known exactly what he wanted it for: a driver's license. I had been thrilled and after some convincing, I'd gotten my way with my father's help. My driver's license had been my seventh birthday gift...along with a sky blue Rolls Royce Phantom.

I got in the driver's seat and sped out of the garage. Jacob hadn't said anything yet, but I was pretty sure he hated it when I drove. I'd learned from my father, who was a terror behind the wheel, and I took after him well. It should have taken us twenty minutes to get to La Push…we were there in ten. The whole ride had been silent.

"Could you not drive like that," Jacob whispered when I parked in his driveway. "We're immortal, not invincible."

We were as good as invincible, but I didn't say that. It wouldn't help anyway. "I'll go slower when I go home," I promised.

He pushed a curl behind my ear then kept his hand on my cheek. "Thank you," he whispered.

I suddenly had to get out of the car. I was clearly fighting a losing battle with myself. I took off at a run, knowing he would follow me but needing the time to think. This was the one place that we could truly be alone. Here there were no eyes watching, no ears listening to our whispered words, just the two of us alone…I was a genius.

"Nessie!" he yelled when I reached the beach…and kept going. "Nessie stop!"

I stopped immediately. He was behind me in a second and he put his over-sized hands on my shoulders, massaging them gently. My pulse was going crazy and I knew he could feel it. This was it; I couldn't fight it this time. And when he kissed the top of my head, I realized that I didn't want to anymore. "I'm afraid it'll change," I whispered.

He turned me around so I was facing him, but I couldn't look up into his face. His thumb and forefinger held my chin and encouraged me to look up. "Change?" he asked softly.

I couldn't say it. The words simply wouldn't form in my mouth. So I did what I always did when I was at a loss for words. I put my hands flat on his chest and watched his eyes slide shut. I showed him the dreams I'd been having, the images that kept going through my mind, and I gave him the feelings that went with them…not that they left any room for doubt.

His lips—noticeably too kissable—curved into the grin that made me go weak in the knees and he opened his eyes. His warm hand slowly moved over my skin of my face until he cradled my head in that one hand. "It can only get better," he whispered.

I believed him. With every fiber of my being I knew he was right. I smiled, hoping he would get the hint. For once I didn't want to tell him what I wanted.

The grin that I loved never left his lips as he closed the space between us. I don't think I could ever find words to describe how I felt when he pressed his lips to mine. I'd been dreaming about it, thinking about it constantly, but nothing could compare to the real deal. His lips were soft and warm and gentle as they moved over mine. I pressed into his hard body as his free hand snaked around my waist and pulled me closer.

But just as I decided that I could stay like this forever, he broke the kiss. I frowned at him, comforted only by the fact that he was still crushing me into his chest.

He, one the other hand, kept grinning at me. "That was nice,"

Nice?! I was going more for spectacular! Of course, I didn't really have anything to compare it to. "Just nice?" I pouted. "Where does it rank?"

He rolled his eyes and quickly pressed a kiss to my forehead. "Number one," he breathed in his husky voice.

I couldn't help but smile after that.

"But we should talk about this, you know."

I wanted to protest when his grip on me slackened, but I knew he was right. We had to discuss the new dynamic of our relationship, set boundaries that hadn't been an issue before. He let me go completely, but took hold of my hand, intertwining his fingers in mine. I smiled as we started down the beach.

"What's that smile?" he asked.

I held up our entwined fingers. "This. You've never held my hand this way before."

He stopped walking, just long enough to bring my hand to his lips and kiss it softly. "I'm glad you like it."

We walked for a few minutes in complete silence, just listening to the waves.

"We all knew this was going to happen," he started. "So your parents have already told me their rules—several times."

I nodded but stayed silent.

He stopped walking and pulled me over to the huge driftwood logs that formed natural benches and pulled me into his lap. "Do you want to spend eternity with me?" he asked in his husky voice.

I looked deep into his eyes, confused that he was asking me when he already knew the answer. "Yes, of course!" I whispered. "You know I do."

He grinned. "Just didn't want to be presumptuous."

I laughed and kissed him slowly. "You know you don't have to ask."

His arms tighten around me. "So you'll marry then?"

I would drive to Vegas and marry him tonight if I could. "There aren't enough yes's in the world."

He crushed me into his chest, nuzzling and kissing my neck.

It made me laugh though. "Why are you asking all this now?"

He straightened up and loosened his hold. "Because that's one of the rules. I promised your parents that we would wait at least a year before we—"

"A year!" I exclaimed. With a few seconds of thought I knew why they had set the rule, but it still didn't make me happy. "They expect us to wait a year!"

He nodded. "You know why. I get you forever when they've only had you for seven years."

"But it's not like we're going to move away!" I pouted.

He put a finger on my lips to silence me. "I've never fought with them over this, Nessie, I understand."

I crossed my arms and leaned against his chest. "I do, too."

"The other rule kinda goes with the first," he said awkwardly.

The awkward tipped me off; I knew what he was trying to say. "I assume they made you promise to keep my virtue in tact until we get married."

He laughed. "That's exactly how Edward said it, actually."

"Yeah, it's just mean," I sighed.

His chest vibrated as he laughed harder. "Yeah, so even if you want it I can't give it to you."

I pursed my lips into an exaggerated pout. "I thought you couldn't help it. I thought you have to give me whatever I want."

"Mmmm, it's true," he breathed. Then he leaned back so he could look into my eyes. "It's hard for me to tell you no, so please don't ask me."

I kissed him quickly. "I promise I'll be good. Besides, I am only seven."

He cringed and I could only imagine the thoughts that had been going through his head right before I'd said that. "Please don't remind me, especially when we're talking about getting married and all that goes with that."

I laughed. "Makes you think twice, doesn't it?"

"Mmm hmm," he hummed, but he was smiling. "It'll make me keep my hands to myself."

Somehow I didn't believe that…or at least I didn't want to.