Nycthemeron
An account of events based on the characters of the Twilight Saga
Preparation
Bella
Everybody likes to go their own way—to choose their own time and manner of devotion. – Mansfield Park, Jane Austen
I sat enthralled by the way the morning fog peeled back from the damp earth, my eyes focusing on the individual dewdrops crawling downward on each rose petal. The beauty before me, the ability to see each detail in the seconds of the morning, was breathtaking. I searched my mind for human memories of mornings like this, but everything was so murky that it seemed unlikely I had ever truly experienced the beauty of nature. How had so many other humans been able to see this, experience it, and write it down for generations of prosperity without vampire eyes? I couldn't help but muse that I hadn't understood Emily Dickens words until this moment.
Sighing I looked down towards the complete works of Emily Dickens in my lap, I had been trying to read before the morning interrupted me. I had little luck getting anything accomplished this night and I smiled to myself knowing the morning had not been my first distraction. I let my eyes wander again, this time not to the window but to the room I sat in. A few feet from me laid my only daughter and I had spent most of the night just watching her sleep. Being her mother by fretting over her breathing, her racing heartbeat and soothing her restless body as it dreamed. Renesmee was beautiful awake or asleep, she looked so like the sleeping beauty of the Disney movie from my childhood. A fair skinned maiden with golden hair framing her face perfectly, she laid with beauty that would inspire anyone to fight a dragon. At least she had gotten Edward's ability to look like a runway model all the time, it balanced out the clumsiest that against Darwin persisted in being passed down again in my blood. I tried to focus again on the book, but my eyes resisted and wandered to search the landscape again not because of the morning but because I hoped to see him coming back to me. Edward had been away for the night, hunting with Emmett and Jasper. I had been reluctant to give up our night, Edward and I rarely spent nights apart, but it was only fair that I share. Or so Emmett had reminded me tauntingly.
"It was the nightingale, and not the lark…" I whispered to myself to force my mind to focus on the book. That lasted a whole three seconds, before his scent was around me and his touch sent electrifying shocks to the very core of my body. Leave it to Edward to still startle me.
"It was the lark, the herald of the morn, no nightingale." He laced his fingers into mine and pulled them up to the window glass, pointing our hands together at the horizon. His voice velvet, quieter than whispers to not wake our sleeping beauty.
"Look, love, what envious streaks do lace the serving clouds in yonder east..." Edward was lightly kissing my neck and all hopes of reading were vanished. He kept whispering into my ear, "night's candles are burnt out, and jocund day stands tiptoe on the misty mountain-tops."
If time still mattered, if I really kept time well at all anymore, it would have stopped. Truthfully time had stopped when I met Edward, because something in the world had graced me. I twisted to allow Edward to sit with me on the window bench and the book fell forgotten to the ground. Our embrace came to a sudden halt when Renesmee stirred in her sleep, loudly enough for us to be reminded that we were in her room.
"We should move down to our bedroom, she is deep in sleep." Edward murmured as he moved to kiss me again. I took in a breath taking in every bit of him inhaling his scent that was mixed with Emmett and bears this morning.
"You hunted bear then?" I laughed. I could feel his lips grin in response to my question.
"Jacob." Renesmee gasped from her bed and in a fluid motion Edward was by her side. I was taken a bit aback by his sudden departure from me and frowned in his direction.
"What…" I started but he pressed his finger to his lips. I watched as he stroked Renesmee's hair softly and quickly in hushed tones hummed in her ear. He hummed the symphony he had composed for her and Jacob last year, a common favorite of hers. She stirred though and her eyes fluttered opened.
"Go back to sleep princess." I heard Edward say in his sly persuasive voice. I smiled, thinking how impossible it was to resist that voice.
"I'm all right daddy." She whispered as she nudged closer to him. Edward kept stroking her hair and let his laugh ring loudly.
"Yes, I will wake you when he arrives. More than likely I'm sure he will wake you." And with that statement Edward hummed softly again until she closed her eyes. I watched calmly, focusing on how Edward and Renesmee's hair could easily be locks of the same head. Suddenly his head moved and he flashed his gleaming teeth at me, I grinned back and he was in front of me without much noise. He held out his hand for me, his intent to remove of us from our sleeping beauty before she startled awake again. We moved past the doorframe and he quickly lifted me to cradle me in his arms.
" I am known to have walked by myself quite well now for at least six years." I struggled against him a bit, mostly in jest because I liked well enough being in his arms.
"And this is still something I get to do." He shrugged at me. My fingers traveled along the seams of his perfectly tailored shirt, one that I was sure Alice had bought and not him as I could smell and feel the expense in it.
"What was she dreaming?" I asked finally breaking my attention from the way the expensive fabric seemed to have been sewn to Edward's chest.
"Apparently she is afraid of Jacob leaving her." Edward frowned.
"Why?" I suddenly clutched at Edward, with all of my might, as I sat up in his arms. He chuckled a bit at my response.
"Are you going to miss him?" He mocked. Knowing my response to the idea of leaving always sparked the same reaction by me. Edward's golden eyes flickered with pain despite his mockery, still feeling responsible for my physical reaction to the idea of abandonment.
"Of course I would miss him, but why would she be afraid of that?" I tried to relax there was no need to make him upset.
"It seems that Seth was telling her stories of Jacob and you yesterday." Edward's jaw clenched.
"Why would stories about…" I started but stopped.
"Yes, it seems in the story telling he touched upon why the two of you spent so much time together. She was curious and asked more about it, and well Seth didn't agree with telling her. But you know Jacob can't deny her anything, even things he doesn't really want to share." Edward's face was hard as stone.
"She thinks he might do the same thing?" I asked, trying desperately to keep the pain out of my own voice at the memories resurfacing about my time without Edward. It was an odd thing how well I could remember that pain, but I had found that any memory about Edward at all had stuck better than anything else from my human existence.
"The stories seemed to scare her into thinking that maybe no matter how much they are meant to be, he might leave her." Edward dropped me at this point, letting me stand on my own two feet. One of his hands held one of mine, and his other arm settled itself around my waist, physically holding onto me.
"Dreams are to work things out remember. I dreamt of you all the time." I sighed. I knew Edward, I knew that at this very moment he was cursing himself, thinking that not only had he caused me a great deal of pain that he could never forgive himself for but even now his actions were causing Renesmee pain.
"About me leaving you?" He asked, looking sternly at me. He was daring me to lie, as if the attempt was even worth it, I was still a terrible liar.
"Yes. Often. Even before…" I didn't finish the thought, but added quickly. "Edward, you often in the beginning," I almost choked the words. "Spoke words that felt like you were trying to say good bye. You know that as well as I. I dreamt many things about you though, my fear of you leaving was only because of how much I couldn't bear it and how much I thought I didn't deserve you." Edward kissed me at this point, an angry kiss.
"I didn't deserve you." He hissed at me, an argument we had at least once a week still but the result never mattered it seemed we would never agree.
"Point being she is meant to dream like that sometimes." I shrugged at him.
"I don't like it when she has nightmares." Edward grumbled.
"Neither do I. And neither does she, but it's the human part in her." I winked. Edward laughed.
"Human indeed. I should talk with Seth about telling her those stories." Edward laughed.
"Leave Seth alone." I warned, pointing my finger into his shirt.
"I have no say in what he does, don't I pay his tuition?" Edward asked feigning severity.
"He doesn't know that." I commented. "And you only did it so that Jacob didn't live in the same house as your hormonal teenage daughter."
"She might be like her mother, in fact she is having her boyfriend sneak into her room when she thinks we aren't listening." Edward scowled.
"What?" I asked. Edward looked over me, towards the staircase and I heard the motorcycle outside and knew Jacob had arrived.
"Apparently Jake is annoyed that I went hunting last night, because he had planned to spend the night with Nessie." Edward growled.
"Why would you hunting stop him?" I demanded, not as annoyed at Jacob spending the night with her as Edward.
"Because when I hunt you spend the night in her room." Edward rolled his eyes, probably at more of Jacob's thoughts.
"He's telling me to stop being such a Hypocrite, because I did the same thing." He informed me and I laughed because Jacob had become increasingly aware of Edward listening to his thoughts. Leave it to Jake to learn how to response to someone without knowing for sure when he was listening. Edward laughed too. He had grown very fond of Jacob. It was a strange relationship for me to watch because now my husband and best friend were more like father and son, Edward taking on a parental interest in the boy who was once one of his greatest sources of jealousy in our relationship ever.
"You need to change the oil in that bike Jake." I heard Rosalie comment downstairs. Rosalie and Jacob had started truly getting along in the last year, as they both built Nessie a car and worked on his bike. It seemed they found that Nessie wasn't their only common factor, and the garage was their refugee when Nessie was otherwise occupied.
"No Seth today?" Emmett sounded like he was wrestling with something, maybe the new boxing game that Seth had let him borrow.
"No. Leah and him were trying to build some cabinet thing when I left." Jake laughed. I smirked thinking of our little pack of wolves. It had been hard on Jacob's pack when he left Forks. It was hard on Jake too though he would never admit it, but they all still communicated when they were wolves and that had been ok for most of them. Everyone except for Leah and Seth, Leah had traveled across country and shown up on our porch two years ago. She had settled here in Hanover, working in town and living in her own apartment refusing to stay in our house as usual. And just this summer, Seth had received a scholarship to attend Dartmouth that he readily accepted. It had all been rather suspicious and I knew then that Edward, Jasper and Emmett might have something to do with the scholarship from J.E.E, Joint Effort for Education. Seth's moving had lead to Jake moving in with part of his pack, probably the result that my husband and his brothers were anticipating. I couldn't deny that I thought it was a good idea not just for Nessie's sake but for Jake's as well. It was healthy for Jake to have somewhere of his own and it did wonders for his mood when he could spend time with some of his own people.
His unnaturally loud crashing footsteps were stumbling up the staircase, I saw his massive body appear in the hallway. Jake's dark skin beamed almost glowing in contrast to the white walls and pale wooden floors. I beamed at him, as it was impossible not to, with his sparkling white teeth showing themselves completely from underneath his dark lips.
"Morning mom, dad." He winked as he mocked us.
"If I was your father I wouldn't be so forgiving about that dismal grade you received on your philosophy paper Jacob." Edward said sternly from besides me. I didn't even know that Jacob was taking philosophy, and less that he had turned in a paper recently. It was funny how much Edward was always keeping up with Nessie and Jake's studies and now Seth's as well. I had enough trouble keeping focused on my own education, Edward often teased that it would become easier as the decades passed.
"You aren't going to be forgiving either way." Jacob rolled his eyes, before mocking repentance. "I will try better to do better next time, dad."
"You might at least try to be a better example Jake. She has a hard enough time concentrating on her work without you encouraging her to fail." I scolded a bit. He actually looked sorry now, as his massive hand pushed back his long hair.
"Well she doesn't have to know, neither do you for that matter. Except that Edward can't seem to stay out of my head." Jake frowned at Edward. Edward chuckled and shook his head beside me.
"No deal." He laughed. Something I was surely missing.
"Fine, well?" Jake demanded.
"I am sure we can talk about this later, Nessie wanted you to wake her when you arrived." Edward sighed, tired of the discussion already. Jake grinned again and pushed past us, a burst of heating radiating from him as he went sprinting up the stairs.
"Young impatience." Edward sighed.
"I'm impatient." I playful tugged at the buttons on Edward's shirt.
"Yes love you usually are." Edward laughed. "But it was the lark, and we must go about our day." He reminded me.
"What does the day have for us?" I questioned, annoyed at his sense of responsibility that flared at the most inopportune moments.
"A paper to finish on both of our counts, a fight with Nessie and Jacob I'm sure on their spring break plans, and packing for our trip we leave for tonight Bella" Edward frowned at the ceiling momentarily. I smiled thinking how Edward had surprised me with a trip to Esme's island for our spring break. It was the first time we were getting away even for a few days since our honeymoon. There hadn't been time, we both feared leaving Renesmee for any kind of time period as we might miss something. But Renesmee was turning six this year, she was in her junior year of high school and there was little development left for her as she now looked like a 19 year old. Edward had figured there was little we could miss, and I had a feeling that Esme and Carlisle might have convinced him some time to ourselves would be good for us. Edward's amused voice distracted me from my thoughts.
"And I believe that Alice is currently throwing away your favorite pair of jeans."
At that I jumped away from him, almost running into our room. I could hear his laughing behind me, but he didn't follow. I came bursting into my closet, a rather large cathedral of clothing most of the pieces gone unused. I flew past the cashmere and silk, the racks of dresses that I had never touched and piles of shoes I thought were unnecessary.
"ALICE!" I screeched louder than I had intended. She ignored me, as I am sure she heard me coming. I glared at her back, debating for a quick second tearing out her black hair.
"That wouldn't be nice." Alice sighed, as she finally surrendered and turned around. She held in her petite hand, the pair of jeans that had traveled with me from my human existence in Forks to my immortal existence here.
"Bella," Alice said annoyed, "Just because you are immortal does not mean that these jeans are."
She held my jeans like a dirty rag infested with disease, and I narrowed my eyes at her. She smiled at me though, knowing my actions before I think I even did.
"They have a huge hole in them Bella, you have to let me throw them out. Are you going to let all these beautiful outfits go to waste because you are too stubborn to take advantage of them? I am throwing these out." Alice said it as a statement and I knew I lost the fight before it began. So what was the point in having it?
I sighed dramatically and Alice squealed, tossing the jeans into a bag she had been hiding behind her back.
"Are you throwing away more?" I demanded.
"No, donating some items." Alice shrugged. "Not all yours." She added to calm my growing anger. Edward walked into the closet, going to his corner to pick out a new outfit for the day. He instantly distracted me as I watched him pull off his shirt, exposing his perfect chest.
"Bella." Alice was aggravated at my lack of attention on her. Edward smiled, probably hearing her annoyance at me paying attention to his every move instead of her raid on my wardrobe.
"Yes Alice?" I forced my eyes to rest on her face again. I could tell suddenly that I was going to have to somehow prove my love to my favorite sister again. Alice was beaming at me, in that pixie type manner that could only mean she was going to ask something of me that I didn't want to do.
"Bella," She started and I groaned. Edward laughed softly from behind me, I could hear the soft rustling of khaki as he changed his pants and I frowned at Alice for making me focus on her and not him.
"Don't look at me like that, you see him all the time." Alice rolled her eyes sensing the root of my frown well enough. According to her, Emmett and Jasper my newborn years were actually not plagued with need for human blood but intolerable need for Edward.
"Alice what do you want?" I demanded, calming as Edward wrapped his arms around me from behind.
"You make her worse Edward." Alice sighed. No one seemed to bother Edward that he might need me as much as I needed him, it seemed though that they had done their fair share of that before I had turned.
"She is growing impatient, and I think Nessie and Jake might be coming to find us soon. So if you don't ask her…" Edward was nestling his nose into my hair.
"Bella," Alice started again and I rolled my eyes at her. "May I pack for you? Don't you want to surprise Edward?"
My laughter rang like a song around me, as I pointed to my mind.
"Can't read my thoughts. You on the other hand, he knows everything you think how would what you pick be a surprise?" I demanded. She shrugged.
"It would be a surprise if you wear it. Emmett is betting a high sum that you two won't need any clothing at all, well he has a bit more to say on the subject but I doubt that he would share that with you." Alice smiled devilishly. I rolled my eyes at her and waved my hand towards my clothing.
"Fine pack for me, at the rate I'm going today I am never going to get my paper written and it's due before our flight leaves." I gritted my teeth already regretting the decision as Alice pranced around Edward and myself.
"Please don't throw anything away while I'm gone." I sighed.
"Silly Bella." Edward mumbled into my ear. I stood there taking in the moment, as Alice was sliding her fingers over my dress rack and Edward pulled me with him to grab our suitcase. It seemed like we packed for an unknown period of time, like I said before I had lost my ability to really tell time. Alice and I argued about outfits and Edward snickered and mediated between the two of us, as he threw his outfits carelessly in the mist of mine. We walked out of the closet, the three of us, and one suitcase as the symbol of our accomplishment for the morning. Jasper had come wandering into the room at this point.
"There you are!" He exclaimed at Alice, she giggled and jumped at him. Jasper caught her with ease and frowned.
"You disappeared for the morning and then you jump into my arms like I am the one who has been gone." He shook his head.
"You were gone all night." She corrected. I laughed.
"Hunting bears and fighting with my husband." I added.
"No I didn't fight with Edward, We fought with Emmett. Big brute thinks he can always win." Jasper laughed.
"Jasper, Renesmee and Jake?" Edward asked, his eyes scanning the ceiling again.
"Anticipation and Excitement. A little bit of fear, but not much." Jasper shook his head. "As Emmett says, you aren't that scary anymore."
"Always fighting." Alice grumbled, probably seeing the fore coming fight that loomed in our future.
"Not always." I fought.
"Close enough." Jasper shook his head and quickly ducked out of the room still cradling Alice in his arms. I sighed, Jasper didn't like hanging around much when we were fighting. He was growing tired of our tedious tension as he called it when it came to dealing with Nessie. She had becoming increasing hardheaded in the last year, rebelling against anything Edward and I suggested. Renesmee had become accustomed to getting what she wanted when she wanted it, something I think we might have fostered in her. From the moment she was born the entire Cullen Clan, Edward and myself included, worshiped her. The problem now laid in the fact that Nessie was a bit spoilt, and Edward and I were trying hard to reverse the effects that spoiling was having on her otherwise sweet disposition.
"Am I going to be annoyed?" I asked Edward. He raised an eyebrow looking me over.
"You always surprise me." He shrugged.
"Are you going to tell me?" I bite at my lip being annoyed he was being evasive.
"No need." He gestured towards the door where Nessie came tumbling in with Jacob in tow. She tripped over a stack of books that Edward had been researching with the day before and we hadn't moved. Jacob caught her, and she didn't even seem to skip a beat in her movement and thoughts.
"Mommy, Daddy!" Nessie screeched before realizing we were standing rather near to her. Edward rolled his eyes.
"Look before you leap little one." He sighed more to me than to her.
"They are right there." Jake laughed at her, as he whirled her around and back onto her feet without much effort. I watched Jake's hands on her waist, and her body reacting to his in every position it was in from the fall, to the lift, to the standing. I caught myself wandering if this is what Rene had meant about Edward and I constantly reacting to each other. It was after all the reason Rene had not been shocked that we were going to be married, not that I was ever going to be surprised when Nessie and Jake announced their engagement. But it was a thought that over took my mind for a moment, I had always known that I reacted to Edward when I was human, moving away, holding my breathe trying not to tempt him or be overtaken by him. But Nessie and Jake didn't have the same problems, yet they still react to each other in much the same way, getting closer, keeping contact, moving and shifting as the other did. It made me think that our reactions, Edward and mine might have been more about love than about Edward's desire to drink my blood and my desire to stay alive.
"Bells, are you even paying attention?" Jacob asked me and I snapped back. Edward chuckled behind me and mumbled something about well done and never getting to a paper.
"Mommy." Nessie stamped her foot, and my attention re-focused, though part of my mind still mused with the physical reactions of my child and of my self with our significant others.
"Yes Renesmee?" I still liked her full name, even though she made a face at its use, I blamed Jacob. I had conceded and begun using her nickname a few years back, everyone else did it was hard not to, even if she had been nicknamed after fictional monster.
"So my spring break is next week, and so is Jake's." Nessie was going quickly, almost tripping over her words.
"Yes we know this." I nodded.
"And you and Daddy are going to Esme's island this week." She rambled and I looked at Edward's face but he seemed to be busy glaring at Jacob. I followed the glare and noticed that Jacob was concentrating hard on the ground I wandered what was happening between them as Nessie still rambled.
"And well I am older now, almost completely grown." Nessie was saying and I sighed dramatically.
"Get to the point Renesmee." I stated simply, she glared at me for interrupting her rambling but smiled sweetly when she noticed I was staring at her face.
"Jacob and I want to go to down the Amazon to visit Zafrina." She said trying her hardest to sound like her Father, by using that persuasive voice that never came out like his at all but you could always tell she was trying.
"No." Edward said softly shaking his head. I snapped my head to look at him, not sure if his response was to her or if he was still having a silent fight with Jacob. Edward's eyes were fixed on Nessie and his face was calm but resolved. I looked towards Nessie, who paused for only a second seeing I had not responded. Her brown eyes flickered at Edward pleading but refocused on me finding his response unchangeable.
"You did promise Zafrina I would visit." She started.
"We said we would visit." Edward commented and she again ignored him.
"It would be a great adventure, a nice human experience to have a spring break." Nessie inserted the human experience part for Edward more than for myself. The child did know how to get to us, another result of her spoiling attentions knowing how to create reactions in each of her guardians.
"Humans don't experience unsupervised spring breaks until they are in college." Edward sighed.
"When they are usually about 18 years old." I added, trying not to smile as her annoyance started to rise in her face. Her brow creased, her tiny mouth puckered much like when she had been a baby, and her nose scrunched as she stamped her foot at me.
"When will you both stop treating me like a child! Just because I'm only six years old, hasn't Carlisle said I'm mentally developed as well!" She screeched a bit.
"Adults don't stamp their feet." Edward eyes were narrowed at her foot disapprovingly.
"Rose does." Jacob finally spoke. I looked at him amazed, quiet the entire time and this was the contribution he had to the fight, useless as an alley to both Nessie and myself. I raised my eyebrows at him and he shrugged smiling at me.
"I would hope that Nessie would learn to be a bit better tempered than Rosalie." Edward's voice was starting to tense, his anger was going to come soon.
"You are still too young to go to the Amazon by yourself little one, and for a week? That's not enough time and you can't miss school." I took steps towards her to try to calm her with some petting but Edward held me back.
"Stop encouraging her," He murmured to me. I glared at him momentarily, so that Nessie wouldn't see, and composed my look as I focused on her again.
"But I want to go." She pouted. When temper tantrums didn't work, move to begging, yes a spoilt child indeed.
"We will all go next summer, after your graduation." Edward stated.
"But I wanted to go next week. Please Daddy?" She turned her eyes on him and he laughed but shook his head.
"No princess. Don't be difficult, please." Though his voice was laughing, his tone was unmistakable it was determined and stern. His tone implied his word was law.
"How about we compromise?" Jake asked suddenly. Edward laughed again, the rhythm of his chuckles made me smile.
"Might we be allowed to go to Forks next week, we would only see Charlie and hang out on the Res?" Jacob smiled brightly, as if he had been planning this proposal all along. Jacob of course knew us almost better than Nessie did, and he knew how we loved compromises.
"Charlie has been asking about Nessie, and Jake hasn't been home in two years." I mumbled to Edward, who was pensive next to me. Jake was sneaky, he knew we couldn't manage to return to forks for a week it would be risky. If Nessie and Jacob went to Forks they would have to go alone.
"We would be safe Daddy, with adult supervision and everything. I mean with Grandpa and Billy around. Not to mention Sam, he's more high strung than even you are." Nessie was rambling again and I raised my eyebrows at her comment about Edward being high strung.
"Only the reservation?" Edward demanded. Jacob nodded.
"Yes, only the reservation."
"I don't see why not." I nodded finally and I could sense Edward agreed with me.
"And maybe next summer you might let us go to the Amazon alone?" Nessie pranced out of the room. Jake winked at us and sauntered out after her.
"I don't like it." Edward finally stated.
"Like what?" I demanded.
"The idea of them going anywhere alone." Edward huffed.
"She is going to be done growing next year." I commented back.
"Nevertheless." Edward gritted his teeth a bit and then smiled at me.
"What was going on with you and Jacob?" I demanded suddenly remember their silent fight.
"He was trying to distract me." Edward shrugged. "I am going to speak to Rosalie and Emmett about watching them this week. Jacob was listing a few of their activities, that I would not approve of that might happen while we're gone. Or that have happened."
He wasn't even finished with his sentence before he was out the door, not that I didn't still hear the end. I laughed Jacob would think it might be easier to convince me of going to the Amazon than Edward. So of course he was trying to be helpful, focusing on thoughts that Edward would be infuriated by while Nessie spoke to me. I looked around the bedroom, eyes roving over the titles of each of Edward's CDs, still organized in his strange compulsive manner that I barely understood. As I neared the edge of the shelves of music, I found a new distraction in my shelves of books. Who knows how long I stood there, without moving much besides my eyes.
My thoughts were bouncing: reading titles around me, thinking of a thesis for my Emily Dickens paper, remembering how Edward looked this morning, debating Nessie and Jacob's trip to the Amazon, mourning the lost of my favorite jeans, cursing Alice for her impending raid on my clothing and wishing Rosalie luck with dealing with Nessie. The last thought caught more of my attention for a moment, Rosalie had up until today never had to truly parent Nessie. Rose had gotten to be the obnoxiously overprotective aunty to Nessie, petting and granting her every wish. It took the first three years to convince Rose that Nessie didn't need everything to be handed to her, but that the little girl was able to get things for herself. If it had been up to Rose, we would all have been Nessie's personal servants. I grimaced at the thought of Rosalie having to deny Nessie anything and I hoped that Edward was convincing her it was imperative for Rose to be firm with our cunning daughter.
A familiar white arm was resting on my waist and a nose was brushing up against my ear.
"So distracted." Edward's voice was sleek. I laughed and twisted to face him, throwing my arms around his neck.
"Not that you help." I replied. He looked at me his eyes playful as he nodded, leaned forward and then pulled away suddenly.
"I can be helpful." Edward had fallen out of my embrace, and stood at the other side of the room.
"Edward." I frowned. "Not fair."
"Maybe if you're paper was done. We would have more time for this." He shrugged at me, still from across the room. I glared at him, his body leaning carelessly against the tower of CDs from the 1950s.
"Is your paper done?" I demanded. Not moving, not willing to let him win by me going to him. He smiled, his lips curling over his perfect teeth as he nodded slowly almost human. My eyes must have shown surprised because he chuckled at me, reaching into his back pocket and pulling out a folded stack of papers.
"15 pages on themes and motifs constantly used by Robert Frost." He was smug.
"Stupid perfectionist." I mumbled before I pranced to the computer, not giving him the satisfaction of going to him. He laughed musically behind me and I started typing faster than an average college student could. I was somewhere in the middle of my third page about the symbolic significance of nature in Emily's poetry when I could feel Edward was hovering over me.
"That doesn't make sense." He commented.
"It does." I growled back. His hand was on my shoulder, as I typed madly into the fourth page.
"That is a good point." He whispered, still reading over my shoulder.
"Could you find something to do?" I begged, as I ached to wrap myself around him and fought with myself not to turn around. He could sense my tension and moved away from me back to his music, I could feel his movements behind me as I kept typing. I could hear his fingers travel over the cases of his CDs, I trudged forward in my paper almost half way done. Suddenly the musical notes of Clair De Lune were behind me and I started typing to the rhythm. I was aware that Edward had stopped moving around the room, and though again I yearned to turn to see what he was doing, I kept with my writing. As the song ended, I came to the end concluding with some point of beauty in nature and the revolving cycle that symbolized death and carpe diem mentality. I smiled satisfied as I clicked on the print button, and spun around to find Edward grinning at me from his black couch with his arms wide open.
"Death and Carpe Diem, huh?" Edward laughed at me, as I gracefully came gliding into his arms.
"It works." I responded, melding into his body almost perfectly.
"Enough to get you a mediocre grade. I thought of you better than that." He laughed, but I knew he meant his words.
"Give me Austen, or Shakespeare even. But poetry Edward, it's so tedious." I groaned a bit.
"Yes because Victorian Romantics are never tedious." Edward rolled his eyes.
"Only when they are being over descriptive." I laughed. "Next time we will major in whatever you want." I offered.
"I don't mind this major, it's somewhat fascinating a nice change from the usual." He shrugged. There was a loud banging on the door.
"Don't break down the door Emmett!" Edward groaned as he pushed himself out of my embrace only slightly. Emmett came into our room, his mouth twitching into a smile.
"Of course I'm not interrupting anything." He snickered and I growled at him. At my growl Emmett's face became somber, he was composed before he spoke again.
"We're getting ready to head out for class, you want me to turn in your papers?" Emmett chuckled again. Edward moved us, carefully standing me and then moving to grab my paper from the printer tray. Emmett moved to me, ruffling my hair up a bit.
"Excited about your trip?" His voice dripped with amusement, though I didn't care to find out why. I nodded curtly, why did Emmett take so much pleasure in torturing me?
"Bella ignore him." Edward sighed, as he handed both our papers into Emmett's massive bear claw. Emmett took the papers, shoved them into his jacket and then threw his arms around both Edward and myself.
"Kids, you will be good? Not get into too much trouble?" He asked, looking down at us his face grinning from his mouth to his eyes.
"Come on Emmett." Edward tried shrugging him off, with not much success. Emmett held on tighter, shifting us around in his arms as he spoke.
"We'll miss you though, so you won't stay away long?" Emmett seemed sincere in his teasing this time and I looked up at him.
"Of course we will come back Emmett. You will take care of our baby?" I asked earnestly. He noticed my voice was tense, Edward also noticed it as his arm reached around Emmett's body to hold my own hand.
"Of course Bella, don't worry about a thing. The kid is basically like my own daughter. And I would crush the skull of anything that harmed her." Emmett laughed carelessly. I could feel Edward rolling his eyes.
"Don't hurt Jacob. She would be very upset." Edward groaned.
"Emmett! You can't, you mustn't. Even if they do something that upsets you, control your temper." I stammered a bit, and he laughed again.
"I control my temper better than Edward, it's Rose you should worry about." Edward pulled us closer, and then let go. I laughed, he was right but neither one of them would hurt Jacob and they would take great care of Renesme.
"Remember be good." Emmett winked at us before disappearing from our room. I looked at Edward, who shrugged.
"He is worried we might get caught up with each other, get distracted from coming back."
Edward wrapped his arm around me, kissing me on the top of my head lightly.
"Carlisle is waiting for us." He held me tightly.
"Yes, yes. Off to paradise." I laughed. Edward held me with one hand, and held our suitcase with the other hand. If my heart still beat it would be erratic at this junction as my body tensed with anticipation for the coming week. Even the murky memory of my last time at Esme's Island with Edward was intoxicating. I could shake from the excitement at the prospect of being in that place, with the white sands and the vibrations of our love as it had reached new heights. As I took my steps, feet moving perfectly with Edward, I knew I was moving from one of my perfect dreams into another one of my perfect dreams. I had chosen this path, this walk, this company and I was thankful for it constantly.
"Not even sharing one thought?" Edward whispered to me, and I smiled.
"I have chosen my devotion. Gone my own way." I sighed. He laughed besides me.
"Reading Mansfield Park again?" He questioned, raising his eyebrows as we reached Carlisle.
"There are other authors Bella," Carlisle rolled his eyes. Jake and Nessie were sitting on the hood of the car.
"You might scratch up the paint when you do that." Edward frowned, but both of them ignored him. Jake stepped down and picked Nessie up, spun her around once and then let her down. She skipped over to Edward and kissed him on the cheek.
"Enjoy your week Daddy." She sang to him, Edward embraced her tightly. He mumbled quickly into her ear, before pulling away and petting her hair lovingly.
"Yes sir." She laughed, and I could feel the defiance she was coating in her words but just shrugged it off. She came prancing to me, as behind her Jacob and Edward started manly shaking hands and ending hugging each other tightly.
Renesmee wrapped her arms around my shoulders and nestled into my neck. I stroked her hair, letting her transfer thoughts to me. Still her preferred method of speaking, she showed me how she was going to miss me but also how much she wanted me to have a good time. She looked up and smiled at me, I winked and smiled back before kissing her lightly on the forehead.
"Be good for Rose and Emmett?" I questioned. She nodded, but even in the nonverbal there seemed to be defiance. I wondered if she knew she was being defiant, I didn't know. She could just be choosing her own path and even I had been defiant when I had done that too. Edward would not like my theory. Jacob's heat was almost burning into my side before I turned to face him and I spun to stare at his chest. He crushed me with heat into him for a few seconds.
"Have a great trip Bells. Try not to conceive anymore kids." He laughed.
"Actually Jacob, Bella can't have anymore children." Carlisle started, but Edward lightly touched his shoulder.
"He knows that." I heard Edward mumbled. "He's trying to be funny."
Jacob laughed, winking down at me.
"I am funny." He moved away from me and back towards Renesme, who was starring at herself in the hood of Edward's newest Silver Volvo. I shook my head, maybe Rose was having too much of an influence on my only child. I didn't have much time to ponder as Edward pulled me into the car with him. I closed my eyes, almost naturally as I curled into Edward's side.