A/N: Can't help it, I enjoy writing too much, so here is another one shot from me. Came up with it because I was done with my long story (yes it is FINALLY finished) *does a happy dance* and wasn't ready to start with my new long story and I started to think about New Year's, looking forward to tomorrow or I guess it's tonight since it's 1.30 in the morning here in lovely Holland ;), so I decided to give Bella and Edward and the rest of the Cullens the same joy I always feel when that clock strikes 12, so here it is, the first New Year's after the whole mess with the Volturi in Breaking Dawn. Enjoy and review (A) ;)
A New Year's To Remember
It was Thursday December the 31st. Time started to seem less and less significant with each passing day, but this day had special meaning, so I noticed it. Tonight would be my first New Year's Eve as a vampire, my first New Year's as Edward's wife and, more importantly, it would be the first New Year's of my beautiful daughter. Alice wouldn't be Alice if she wouldn't use any opportunity she gets to throw a party, luckily she had promised it would just be the family.
I walked into the Cullen house with Renesmee on my arm and holding Edward's hand, we must have looked like the perfect family. Alice was already in full party mode, she went through the house like a hurricane leaving order and decorations rather than destruction. When Alice noticed us her expression changed from calculating and occupied to cheerful. She ran over to us with vampire speed and gave the three of us a hug like she hadn't seen us in ages rather than hours.
Renesmee put her hand to my face and showed me the decorations Alice had just put up, she thought they were pretty and asked if she could help Alice. I told her that she would have to ask her aunt herself. Normally Alice wouldn't allow anyone to help her when she was in the mood she was in right now, but nobody seemed to be able to deny Renesmee anything she wanted, that was going to be very difficult when she became a teenager…
Renesmee leaped out of my arms and dashed after Alice, who was already instructing Renesmee where she wanted which decorations.
"It's going to be amazing, Nessie." I heard Alice gush. "The whole family is going to be together, it's going to be the best New Year's ever." Renesmee giggled and beamed up at her aunt. It was nice to see her so happy, she deserved some carefree childhood years, or months or however long this phase would take, we still weren't exactly sure how fast our daughter would continue to grow after all.
All of a sudden Edward snapped his teeth together and pressed his lips into a hard line, his expression was furious, I was instantly brought back from my thoughts to reality.
"What's wrong Edward?" I asked alarmed.
"Why the hell did she have to do that?! What was she thinking?! Without discussing it first!" He was beyond angry. Quite frankly he scared me a little. The last time he had looked like this we were in a life threatening situation. What was wrong?
"Edward talk to me please!" I begged him while I yanked on his shirt, trying to get him to snap out of his frustration.
"Alice!" he yelled.
"What did she do?" I asked to no avail, he just continued to glare in the direction Alice had just left.
Then she popped her head around the corner, she must have seen his angry rant coming because she was holding up her hands in a way villains did in old movies when they were surrounded by cops.
"I'm sorry Edward, I wanted to discuss it, but I hadn't seen it coming." Edward let out a hard, humorless laugh. "I mean it Edward, I didn't know, I hadn't been paying close attention, I was too busy preparing the party."
"What is going on?" I demanded.
"Bella, I'm sorry, I can make it right, I'll call Charlie and let him know."
"Let him know what exactly Alice?" I stared at my favorite sister confused.
"Well, where to begin?" she started.
"How about the beginning?" I suggested sarcastically, I was getting impatient. What the hell was going on?!
"Right, well," she seemed really uncomfortable while she started to explain the situation, "I wanted this party to be special, and I promised you that it would just be the family, but I consider the Denali clan to be part of the family as well…"
"We all do," I interrupted her, I was really fond of our 'cousins', especially Kate, Carmen and Eleazar. Of course I liked Tanya as well but I couldn't help but feel uncomfortable around her knowing that she had feelings for my husband, even though he didn't return the sentiments.
"As well as Charlie and the wolves," she didn't even sound disgusted when she mentioned the pack, the recent events had really brought a solid friendship between the two groups, I was thankful for that.
"So I invited them all to join our party."
"That's great Alice, really! Why would that be a bad thing? I know I can be difficult sometimes when it comes to parties but to think that I would be mad at you for inviting family, that's ridiculous!" I told her. I was shocked that she would think so low of me.
"That's not the bad part Bella, I knew you wouldn't be upset about that." She rolled her eyes at me. "Yesterday I received a call from Charlie, he had spoken to your mother the day before and she had told him that Phil was away on a baseball trainingcamp with New Year's and she would be all alone. Gentleman that he is, your dad told her that he would be spending New Year's over at our place and he invited her to come too. Of course he didn't think that she didn't know anything about the whole new situation and the danger she would put herself in if she would figure out a little too much about what happened to you. But when I told him that, it was already too late, she was already on a plane over here and there was no way to stop her. So she'll be arriving at Charlie's in less than an hour. She is still a little confused that you are 'better' now all of a sudden, since we told her that you were still sick remember? And a little hurt that you haven't called her since the wedding basically. But Charlie said she was so excited to see all of us again and I figured this New Year is going to be a family party, might as well have the entire family there." She finished her explanation and had a look on her face that told me if she was still able to blush, she would be bright red by now.
I had to process all this information, even though my new vampire mind could process a million times faster than my human one could, it still took me a while to get over the shock and start thinking in solutions. I even got hopeful, it would be so nice to have Renee in my life fully again, I missed my mom a lot.
"Will it work out?" I asked Alice.
"Well, since I invited the wolves and since Renesmee will be there, I can't see, I'm sorry!" She let her head fall into her hands. "I'm so sorry Bella, I should have seen this coming!"
"It was a snap decision on my dad's part to invite her Alice, it's not your fault. It will work out, we will make it work!" I tried to comfort her. I had no way of knowing whether or not it would work out but it had to! Now that the idea of having my mother back in my life was planted in my head I would do anything to make it work. My mom was very observant and smart, I was sure she would be able to come up with an explanation that worked for her, without me actually having to risk telling her and with that bringing the wrath of the Volturi down on her, or us for that matter.
I hadn't noticed that next to me Renesmee had climbed into Edward's too still arms, I felt both their eyes on me, Edward was taking in my response and Renesmee was eagerly waiting to ask me a question. I held out my hands and Renesmee freed herself from Edward's grip to climb into my arms. I cradled her to my chest and she put her hand on my cheek.
Will I be able to meet my other grandmother?
I saw pictures in her head of her hugging Renee, she had quite an accurate image of Renee, she had seen many photographs of my mother on the wedding pictures and pictures I had kept from my childhood. Renesmee was hopeful, she seemed eager to meet my mother and hug her and tell her all about herself.
I nodded my head, "that's what it looks like sweetie," I told her.
Now she showed me how relieved and happy she was, it made me happy too and I couldn't help but smile at my daughters enthusiasm. I looked over to see that Edward was smiling next to me too, fully aware of what Renesmee was showing me. It seemed like he was melting bit by bit because of our daughter.
All of a sudden the images in Renesmee's head turned from happy family pictures to worried pictures full of questions.
Will she like me? Will she accept me? Will she be scared? What if she doesn't like me?
The worried questions from my daughter broke my heart. How could she think someone would not like her?
"Of course she will like you! She will love you! Just like the rest of the family does, just like Charlie. You're her only granddaughter, she will be very happy when she gets to meet you." I kissed her hair and was relieved when the images in her head returned to the happy family pictures. "Why don't you go help aunt Alice again?" I suggested to my daughter. "I'm sure she can use the help." I smiled, knowing full well that this wasn't the case, but I needed to discuss the situation with Edward and perhaps Carlisle, he would have some useful insights.
Renesmee jumped out of my arms and danced after Alice, she was just as graceful as her aunt as they were putting up decorations and racing through the house. Edward took my hand and we were both standing there in awe, looking at our beautiful daughter.
"Can you believe we created that beautiful creature?" I asked him.
"Yes I can, look at her mother!" he said, kissing the top of my head.
I looked up at my husband and placed my lips on his for the slightest instant, then I pulled away again. He wasn't having that, he pulled me back to him and gave me a long, deep kiss, when he pulled away I let out a moan.
"Unfair! We have business to attend to!" I accused him. He just grinned back at me, unashamed. "Let's go find Carlisle," I suggested.
We located Carlisle in his study and explained the situation to him, even though I was quite sure he had been able to hear every word perfectly clear with his vampire hearing. He told us there really wasn't much we could do about it now. He still though telling Renee the truth was not a smart plan, we already weren't the best of friends with the Volturi, no reason to taunt them further, that would surely end in war and loss. I flinched at the thought and shook my head to try and keep the images that were starting to form out. But she could see me and make of it what she wanted.
"Maybe I should call Charlie so he can prepare her a little," I suggested.
"That's a very good idea Bella, he isn't aware enough to give anything vital away and it will make things a bit easier when Renee finally gets here."
"I really hope this all works out," I muttered when we were done discussing strategy and Edward and I left the study.
"I'm sure it will love, don't worry!" was his reply, after which he kissed my lips.
"You know, this is really not the best time for me to get distracted," I told him sternly. He chuckled and gave me his most innocent look. He was gorgeous and I couldn't remember anymore why I couldn't get distracted at this moment, I threw my arms around his neck and all but jumped him, placing my lips against his and kissing him eagerly. This time he had to push me away, leaving me standing there, arms extended, looking like an idiot with a huge pout on my face. He laughed.
"Didn't you have a phone call to make?" he asked me while raising one of his perfect eyebrows.
"Right… Renee… forgot about that," I muttered. He chuckled.
I called Charlie and explained the plan to him, he told me he would take care of it, and he would bring Renee and Sue over to our place around nine, after they had all gotten some dinner. He chuckled when he told me he had assumed that there would be no dinner at our place. I didn't know if that was true so I asked Alice and she shouted that nine was perfect. Nine it was.
It was five o'clock and I was already pacing through the house, nervous about tonight. At that moment Jacob entered the house, he let himself fall down on the couch and got comfortable. He had a huge, childish grin on his face.
"What's with you?" I asked curiously.
"Nothing, just curious to see how vampires celebrate New Year's."
"I don't think any other vampire would, a year isn't a long time for a vampire you know." I winked at him, he grinned back.
Renesmee had noticed Jacob and was quite offended that he hadn't come to her immediately. She stood in front of him with her arms folded across her chest and looked at him sternly. It looked very funny and I burst out in laughter, it was really too bad I didn't have a camera on me. Jacob played along and begged Renesmee to forgive him.
"Forgive me your highness, it will never happen again," he said with a pout on his face and making a small bow.
Renesmee deliberated for an instance and then decided she was too eager to share her day and her enthusiasm about meeting her other grandmother to make a bigger deal out of it all so she jumped onto his lap and placed her hand on his face. After she was done with the play-by-play of her day so far Jacob looked at me questioningly. I just shrugged and smiled.
The rest of the evening passed quickly, more and more family members walked in and it didn't take long for the house to be quite full. Out of the pack only Quil, Embry, Seth, Leah and Jake decided to come to our party, bringing the objects of their imprinting along with them as far as they had them when that was applicable, Sam and the rest of the wolves decided to celebrate New Year's back at the reservation, I was disappointed that Emily wouldn't be there, I really liked her, she never judged, she was just a nice person and it made me happy to see her and Sam so happy and in love with each other. However, the five wolves that were at our party were big enough to make the house nice and full along with Billy, who had gladly accepted our invitation to celebrate New Year's Eve at our place, the Denali sisters and Eleazar and Carmen. It was a lot of fun to have this many people in the house again and it really did feel like a party, not the type I hated, but the cozy family get-togethers.
"You're in a good mood," Jasper commented.
"You would know," I replied while winking at him. He laughed. "It's just that I'm happy to have everyone here and feel like a family and I'm hopeful that it will all work out with Renee and she can finally fully be a part of my new life and my new family as well. Hopefully Charlie prepared her well and hopefully she will take the news well."
"I'm sure that when she sees you this happy she'll be happy too and I'm sure she wants you in her life no matter what you are." I was happy that Jasper and I had developed this new relationship, I really trusted him and it always made me feel good to talk to him. I smiled at him and he smiled back at me.
The clock struck nine at the same time that the doorbell rang. The chief of police was nothing if not punctual. I all but ran to the door but Edward still beat me there, and I was happy he did, he took my hand and motioned for Jake to bring Renesmee over. He took our daughter into his arms and told her once more that she needed to treat Renee a little more carefully than she did Charlie even, because she wasn't used to her yet, after that he told her he was sure Renee would adore our daughter. She put one hand on my face and the other on Edward's, even though that was unnecessary I could tell she felt like this way he was more included, and showed us that she had understood perfectly and she would be on her best behavior. I had never been more proud of my little girl.
Then it was time to open the door. I saw Renee and Charlie standing on the porch holding hands with Sue holding Charlie's other hand. It wasn't a strange picture, it looked natural, his past and future in one frame, I smiled at my dad and he smiled back at me, giving me a small wink to reassure me that Renee would be fine. Then I heard her gasp. I looked over to my mother alarmed.
"Oh my God Bella! You're gorgeous! Come here!" she squealed as she ran over to give me hug. She ran into me a little too hard. "Oh… Right… He told me… Hard skin…" she mumbled to herself while she carefully hugged herself to me again. "I'm so happy to see you my dear," she whispered into my ear. There was no awkwardness, it was so like my mother, she wasn't even phased by what happened, I was still her Bella. I was extremely happy.
That was part of the difficult stuff, now all that remained was introducing my mother to her granddaughter who was slightly older than was normally possible, it hadn't been that long since I saw my mother.
"Mom, there is someone I would like you to meet," I told her straight out. My mother's face changed slightly at the sound of my voice but other than that the happiness didn't leave.
"You sound a little different, you look different too," she noted, it wasn't concerned or alarmed, it was just stating the facts. I loved my mother!
"Yeah, dad explained it to you right?"
"I don't know what happened but I understand you're not at liberty to tell me so I'll except it this way. You look beautiful and you seem happy. Are you happy?" She would always be my silly mother.
"Extremely happy mom!" I told her as I carefully hugged her.
"Then that's all I need." I smiled at her and she smiled back. "Now what did you wanted to show me?" she asked smiling lovingly at me, I fought back a giggle by the way she said what in stead of who.
"Well, don't freak out okay? I'm not sure how much dad had told you about the time I was sick?" I started
"Not much really."
"Alright, well, I was sick because I was pregnant," I paused for a bit to see how she was taking the news. Her expression changed but it wasn't bad, she seemed to be glowing. "It wasn't a normal human pregnancy you could say, it all went way faster, the baby grew a lot faster than anything we had ever seen so it was a bit complicated," I paused again, but this time her face was nothing but concerned. So I continued. "I'm okay now, everything worked out great. And now Edward and I have a daughter, her name is Renesmee, named after you and Esme, and she is absolutely adorable and she can't wait to meet you. What do you think?" I blurted out the last part nervously.
"Are you kidding me?! You held me away from my granddaughter for so long! What on Earth made you do that! I want to meet her of course." My mother sounded angry and excited at the same time.
"Sorry mom, it was complicated." I would have blushed if I could. "Mom, meet Renesmee, your granddaughter."
The moment I showed Renesmee to her she held out her hands and I carefully handed my daughter to my mother, she was sold. Both of them seemed ecstatic. I felt like I was going to explode from happiness.
The rest of the evening was amazing, my mom mingled with all of my family, catching up with Esme for a long time and chatting with the Denali clan about Renesmee, who didn't seem to be able to leave her grandmother's side. It was endearing to see. I felt on top of the world. Edward seemed to be the same way as he put his arms around my waist and hugged me close to him.
"This is nice, the whole family together!" I told him happily.
"I couldn't agree more. Have I ever told you you're the best wife in the whole world? I'm so proud of you," he whispered into my ear.
I turned around to look him in his eyes, it was amazing the power they still had over me, and said: "You mentioned it once or twice since we've been married." I winked at him and continued. "But that doesn't mean I'll ever get tired of hearing it. Besides, you're not so bad yourself," I told him while smiling adoringly at him.
He kissed me on my lips and I forgot where we were for the one perfect moment his lips touched mine, moving with mine lovingly.
"Get a room!" I heard Emmett shout at us before I heard his loud bolstering laugh. Followed by something that sounded like two rocks colliding and an "OUCH!!Hey!", I looked over to see that Rosalie had smacked him on the back of his head and I smiled at her, then I turned my attention to Emmett and I stuck my tongue out at him.
It was only a few seconds to New Year's and out of the blue all the wolves along with Charlie and Billy started counting down. 10…9… it wasn't long before the rest joined in and everyone was staring at the clock expectantly 8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1… HAPPY NEW YEAR! Everyone shouted as one. It was followed by many hugs and kisses all around. Edward's lips were the last thing I had felt last year and the first thing I felt this year. I had every person I loved in this room with me and all the bad things that had happened the last couple of years were behind us for good. It was a happy new year indeed.
A/N:
And for those of you interested: my real-not-a-one-shot is just about finished, need to reread it for errors one more time and then I can start uploading ;) It will be called Messages and it's about what happens when, in New Moon, Bella picks up the phone instead of Jacob when Edward calls Charlie's house after Rosalie told him that Bella was dead. Like I said, it'll be up soon for those interested ;)