It was the most awful day when my father died.
Nobody saw it coming. He'd kept his illness under wraps while he was well enough to go out, and refused all visitors when he wasn't.
The first to notice that there was a problem was Sue. She'd noticed that Billy had sounded frail on the phone, so she made a casserole, and sent Charlie over with it. Charlie hammered on the door, and there was no answer. He called the phone, and no one picked up. He threw pebbles at the window, and there was no reply.
And then he called me.
"Jake?" the slightly worried voice came on the other end of the line. I was holding the phone with one hand, and the other arm was around Nessie. She was six – so the average size of a thirteen year old.
"Hey, Charlie. What can I do for you?" I said, keeping my voice down to remain under the movie she was watching.
"Do you reckon you can jet over and let me into your house for a sec? Sue's made your dad a casserole, and she doesn't want me to leave it on the porch."
"He not there?" I asked.
"Nah. I've been here a while, and called around a few of the old haunts. No one's seen him."
"That's weird," I said, my face concerned. Everyone on the rez always told someone where they were going – just in case someone needed to reach them. Billy was particularly neurotic about it, as he didn't have a cell phone – heck, he'd only just agreed to have a house phone put in. "Yeah, Charlie, I'll be right over."
"Thanks, Jake."
I flipped the phone shut, and Nessie looked up from her chick-flick. "Going to Grampa's?" she asked, excited.
"My place, actually. My dad's gone out and locked the door," I said, standing up from the comfortable sofa, making to kiss her on the forehead.
"No way!" she said. "I'm coming too. I haven't seen your dad in ages!"
"Bella," I called, knowing Bella was upstairs with Edward, leaving the teen-movie watching to the almost-live-in-werewolf-babysitter.
"That's fine. Say hi to my dad for me," she called back.
I sighed. "But it's not as fast if we take the car…"
"Come on, Jake! I know you like the Aston Martin…" she teased.
"Edward?" I asked up the stairs.
"It needs gas. My wallet's on the pool table."
Sometimes I hated how her parents were so accommodating. If she came, I'd have to watch the chick-flick later.
"Let's jet," she said, spinning the keys around her finger.
"Not on your life," I said, snatching them back. "You don't even look old enough. I drive."
I had to admit, it was an amazing car, and I stood back to admire the way it looked in my driveway as I locked the door.
"You wish, Black," Nessie said, snatching the keys back.
"One day…" I threatened.
"Get a job," she teased. "Hey Grampa!" and she ran up to him, hugging him tightly.
"I have a job…" I muttered under my breath.
"Howsit goin', baby?" he said. "Bigger every time I see you."
"Ahh, the strain of being a hybrid," she grinned.
"Howsit going, Charlie?" I asked with a grin.
"Good, Jake. And you?"
"I'd be better if I didn't have to sit through chick-flicks all summer," I grinned.
"He secretly loves it," Nessie said, flashing her perfect teeth.
I rolled my eyes, trying to pretend I didn't love the hours spent watching her, instead of the films that held no interest to me, and unlocked the door.
"Dad?" I asked, for some reason, walking slowly. "You home?"
"Billy?" Charlie asked, entering after me. "Sue made casserole?"
"Papa?" Nessie asked, using Billy's preferred name – halfway between father (in law) and grandfather. She was untouched by our caution, and swept past us down the length of the hall and into her second home, into the sitting room. Charlie and I, not even halfway down the hall, heard her gasp.
"Papa?" she asked, alarmed, and I heard her knees hit the thin carpet, and the boards underneath creak.
"Dad?" I asked, increasing my speed down the hall, Charlie at my heels.
My father was lying at the foot of his wheel chair, his face down on the threadbare carpet, eyes closed. Renesmee was kneeling with him, her slender fingers pressed at his throat, her eyes frantic, searching for mine, and welling with tears.
Charlie rushed past me as he surveyed the scene. He flipped him over, searching for movement in his chest, the beating of an old, tired heart. It was obvious by the increasing desperation in his eyes that nothing came of it.
Nessie stood and walked over to the doorway I leant in for support. The tears that had threatened to fall began, and instinctively, I pulled my universe into the safest place for her – my arms, where I allowed her to stain my old t-shirt with salt water.
My eyes did not leave my father.
Sometime later, after the Pack, Sue and Charlie, the Cullens, and most of the residents of La Push had come and gone, Renesmee and I lay together under the covers of my small childhood bed, where she continued to cry into the now familiar fabric of my shirt, and twist her denim sheathed legs around my own to fight the unnatural July cold of my father's empty home.
In the early hours of the morning, her red eyes found mine again.
"What am I going to do without you?" she whispered into the dark. "What happens when it's you?"
"Honey, I'm male. I need a little more clarification than that," I said, not comprehending.
"What am I going to do the day you die?" she asked, her voice hitching on the word 'die',
"Honey," I sighed, relief washing over me. "That isn't going to happen."
"But… you're human," she whispered. "Mortal."
"No," I whispered, drawing her closer. "No. While I phase, I am more than a man. I am immortal. Remember why I exist, honey. I exist to defeat vampires. As long as there are vampires around, I'll be able to phase. And considering I intend to spend my life with you, there will always be vampires around, so I'll always be able to phase. I have a new purpose now. You."
"So you won't…?" she prodded, her voice holding hope.
"Never," I promised.
She once again buried herself in my much larger frame.
"Always," she vowed, repeating her line of our quote.
"And Forever," I completed, kissing the top of her head. "Sleep, honey."
"Sure, sure."