Chapter 3- Family Reunion
When we walked through the front door, the torrent of "Edward!"s and "Bella!"s and "Nessie!"s came. Carlisle, Esme, Rosalie, Emmett, and Jasper were the first ones to reach us, then Jacob's pack buddies, Seth, Leah, Quil, and Embry.
"Nice to have you back." Carlisle said.
"Edward, Bella, Renesmee, I'm so glad to see you!" Esme sang.
"Hi, you guys." Jasper's quiet voice murmured.
"Nessie!" Rosalie cooed, swinging Renesmee into her arms. In my peripheral vision, I saw Jacob tense.
"Edward!" Emmett grinned at us. "It's been so quiet without you. You wouldn't believe how much easier it is to think around here." He joked, ducking Edward's playful punch.
"Hey, Edward!" Seth crowed, slapping him a high-five "Nice to see you again. It's been a while since I've seen any of you."
The rest of the pack was a bit more wary of us than Seth, who seemed perfectly at ease being in close proximity with all of us vampires. Leah, his sister, narrowed her eyes, probably remembering when I accidentally hurt Seth last fall.
It was great to be back, though, even though Jasper always hovered unnecessarily close to me, worried that my newborn instincts would take over and I would kill Renesmee or one of the wolves. Rosalie and Jacob were always the ones playing with Renesmee, Jacob because he couldn't bear to be without her, and Rosalie… she had always wanted a child of her own, so I didn't deprive her of the privilege of playing with my daughter.
Edward and I sat together on the couch, hand in hand, telling our family about New Hampshire and how our studies were going, and they filled us in on the latest news from Forks. Everything was pretty normal, at least vampire-normal. Since none of them went to school, and none of them wanted to go to college (for the what, fifth time?), they studied pretty much what they wanted at home. No wonder vampires were always so smart all the time. I had quite a bit to catch up on.
When the sun had set, Edward picked up Renesmee, who had fallen asleep on the floor, and we walked, human pace, to our cottage. It only took me a few seconds to know who was following us, wolf form, as we neared our home. Jacob. Obviously. He tagged along about fifty yards away, not even bothering to sneak, probably knowing sneaking wouldn't help much, anyway.
Our cottage was exactly as we left it last fall, but there wasn't a speck of dust to be seen anywhere. Huh. Alice or Esme must have made it a hobby to make sure our cottage was absolutely spotless 24/7. Edward gently tucked Renesmee in the bed in her room, resisting the urge to roll his eyes when Jacob curled at the foot of her bed, almost like any normal family dog. If normal dogs were as big as horses.
In the living room, Edward sat down on the couch, pulling me onto his lap. I sat there for a while, enjoying the moment; we were finally home. He buried his face in my hair, while his gentle fingers played with loose strands.
I'm not sure how long we sat there, simply enjoying each other's company; time goes all weird when you're a vampire. But eventually, then sun began to rise, and I knew it wouldn't be too long before Renesmee and Jacob woke up. I sighed, reluctantly pulling myself out of his arms. Edward sighed as well, following me through our bedroom and into our massive closet.
It was all Alice's fault, of course. Who else? When she and Esme had rebuilt our cottage, she had insisted on building us a closet bigger than our room. Ugh. I quickly changed into a fresh pair of jeans and a t-shirt, smirking to myself. I could see Alice's irritated look at how I used my closet.
Edward's lips brushed against my cheek. "Would you like to cook breakfast or should I?" He whispered.
"I will, don't worry." I said, and he disappeared into Renesmee's room. I thought it was pretty ironic, cooking for my daughter when I didn't eat human food myself. I could hear Edward's soft murmur to wake Renesmee in the next room.
"Wake up, Nessie," Edward whispered. There was a pause, where Renesmee was most likely saying something to him nonverbally. To which Edward, sounding a bit annoyed, replied, "No, he's right here. He was here the entire night." Of course. Naturally, Renesmee would ask about Jacob first thing when she wakes up.
Then came Jacob's husky voice. When did he phase back human? "Wow, your floor is hard." He grumbled.
"Maybe I'll get you a rug." Edward muttered sarcastically.
Renesmee and Edward, followed by Jacob, came into the kitchen. When Renesmee and Jacob dug into their breakfast, I sat next to Edward on the counter, watching them.
Edward sighed. "It's so strange, how she's only a year old and she already has a boyfriend. If you and I hadn't happened, I would have thought such a strong bond between such young ones would be impossible."
I nodded in agreement. This must have been how Charlie felt, when I first introduced Edward as my boyfriend. I chuckled at the memory. I removed my mental shield for a moment, allowing Edward to relive the moment as well. Charlie had been so surprised when I'd told him I had a boyfriend, stating that Edward was much too old for me, to which I countered that we were both juniors. Charlie didn't know how right he was that Edward was way older than I am: almost 100 years older.
Beside me, Edward laughed quietly. "But I'm never too old for you, no matter how much older I am than you are." He breathed in my ear.
But the relationship between Renesmee and Jacob was just too early. It might have been my mother hormones, but it just didn't seem right. If I could so easily see Edward and me together, why was it so hard for me to imagine Renesmee and Jacob together?