Natalie's POV

I was laying on my stomach on me and Jasper's bed, reading one of his old civil war books. Simply because there was a lack of other things to do. As a vampire I technically didn't need a bed, but I clung to my human posessions, I liked having them near me. Plus, a bed came in handy for 'other' things. Downstairs I could hear Renesme giggling as she played with Bella. I sighed to myself. Renesme was practically a perfect copy of both her parents, combining their features and traits to create a very pretty and lively girl. Truth be told, Rosalie was not the only one jealous of Bella. I was too. Jealous that she had been able to have a child. In the last couple of months I had begun to understand Rosalie a lot more. I sighed, my jealousy was probably part of the reason my relationship with Jasper had been so awkward these last couple of months. I still loved him as much as I ever did, but sometimes I couldn't help but think, what if? It didn't help that I found it much more difficult to detach myself from my human past. Even Bella hadn't had this much trouble. She had once said to me that her human memories seemed unfocused to her. To me my human memories were still clear and distinct, as though they had happened only yesterday.

A lot of things had changed that year. Bella's marriage, her pregnancy, Bella becoming a vampire, Renesme and finally the arrival of the Volturi. I hadn't been there for the final 'battle'. Though I wish I had been. After Alice and Jack had disappeared, Jasper became more worried about the outcome. Only I realised it, being as close to him as I was. Always feeling everyone's emotions had allowed Jasper to easily hide his. He tricked me that day the Volturi arrived, sent me far away from Forks, telling me that I was to meet Alice in a neighbouring state. Needless to say, there was no Alice. I rushed back to Forks once I realised I had been tricked. I ran back as fast as I could, but the Volturi had already disappeared. Never before had Jasper seen my temper. Although I knew he was only trying to protect me, it didn't stop my anger. I was supposed to be there. The Cullens were my family, they had my back and I was supposed to have theirs. A week passed with me practically ignoring Jasper. Eventually Edward manged to convince me to forgive Jasper. Looking back I was ashamed of my actions. I knew that it had hurt him, I knew that he had only been trying to do what he always did, protect me. After all, there was a reason that I called him my guardian angel. However, I did make him promise that if the Volturi ever came calling again, that he wouldn't send me away again.

I could now hear Jacob's deep voice as he entered the house, presumably to see Renesme. Unlike the other Cullens I didn't mind the werewolve's smell that much. Compared to the smell of humans, the werewolves practically smelled like a bouquet of roses. I put away the book I was reading and headed downstairs, I had had enough of isolating myself.

"Auntie Tally" Renesme called as she ran to hug me. When Renesme had been younger she had been unable to pronounce Natalie, so instead she had called me Tally. Now that she was older, she could pronounce Natalie, but the nickname had stuck. I leaned down to return her hug. As I did memories of Renesme's day flitted through my head. I looked gently down at her, the Cullens were my family and important to me, even more so now that my mum had moved out of town.

She had left the day I had graduated (I had failed Franch, no big surprise there!). While my mum had accepted my change, my step-father had been unable to. They had left that day leaving me with the Cullens. It had hurt at the time. After the graduation ceremony, I had curled up on my bed. Jasper had held me, wrapping his arms around me from behind, as I sobbed quietly into my pillow. Jasper hadn't tried to calm me, realising that I needed to let the emotions out. Now, although it still hurt slightly, it wasn't as bad. I had realised that I no longer had a part to play in my parent's life. And the Cullens had provided me with enough love to fill the void.

With a lack of options, it had been been Carlisle who had walked me down the aisle on my wedding day. It really was the best day of my life. Me and Jasper had married the week before Edward and Bella. Alice had planned it all to perfection and had organised it to suit my tastes. Edward had played the piano as I walked down the aisle. I remember dancing with Jasper at the ceremony, even with my heels he had still towered above me.

"You're mine forever now" he had whispered in my ear.

I had believed his words, but now? Did he even want me anymore? Even as a vampire I still had my insecurities.

We had post-poned the honeymoon, so that we could attend Edward and Bella's wedding. Than once we heard about Bella's pregnancy we had cut the honeymoon short. Jasper had alway said we would go back on our honeymoon at a later date, but we hadn't gotten around to doing it. To be honest I wasn't too sure if he wanted to go anywhere with me. What was happening to us? I loved him and he loved me, yet this distance kept growing. Was love not enough?

Jasper's POV

I kept my eye on the deer in front of me, waiting for the opportune time to pounce. To my left was Edward and Carlisle and to my right Esme and Emmett. The deer stiffened as though it had sensed a nearby predator and I pounced. As I fed, my mind drifted to the subject I thought about too much. Her. I think she was finding it harder to adjust to being a vampire than most. She seemed to be much more in touch with her human side than most vampires. I was worried about her. I knew I wasn't the only one. I wondered if she realised that she hadn't smiled once, in the last couple of months. It hurt to know I was not enough. I saw the way Natalie watched Nessie. The same way Rosalie did. I knew Natalie would have been a brilliant mother if given the chance. It was one of the reasons I loved her so much, she seemed to have so much love to give. Did Emmett ever feel this way as well? Did he ever feel he was unable to give Rosalie everything she wanted? Everything she needed? I could feel Edward's eyes on me. I knew that he had been listening to my thoughts. I paused in my feeding and turned to look at him. His eyes were filled with understanding. We all knew Natalie was hurting. We all wanted to help her deal with the change. But we couldn't, because somehow Natalie was different from the rest us. None of us had told her this, we didn't want to isolate her any further, but I think Natalie was beginning to realise anyway. Sometimes I looked in her eyes and I could tell she knew that she was different from the rest of us. Her eyes seemed to ask me "What's wrong with me?".

Her differences were the real reason I had kept her away from the fight. Away from the Volturi. My family assumed it was because I wanted to protect her from the physical fight if it came to that, but the real reason I tricked her was to hide her from the Volturi. If they saw her, discovered what she was, I knew she would interest them and I was worried about what form that interest would take.

The Volturi were back in Italy now, I just hoped that they would stay there.

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