The light from the east was sparkling off the little pool behind our cottage when we finally agreed, reluctantly as always, to call it a night and get ready to rejoin the world. Edward chose his clothing from the few items remaining in the oversized closet, while I put on the red dress Alice had left for me.
Nessie was still asleep, but beginning to roll and thrash in the way that usually signalled she was nearly ready to wake up. Edward gently picked her up and we started for the main house, letting Nessie wake up to find herself being carried in her father's arms. Smiling, she reached over for my hand, and Edward laughed as she showed me a series of images of herself, falling asleep in one place and waking up somewhere else entirely, as though transported by magic.
The Cullens and their visitors were still gathered in the dining room, but now conversation had given way to an informal singing bee. Each participant was to sing something from their original time and place, Edward quietly explained to me. It would make for a lot of variety, and the actual singing was beautiful, although the exercise reminded me a little of a Personal Empowerment Music Retreat that Renee had once attended. As we came through the back door, Jasper was playing his guitar and singing a love song in Spanish, making the others laugh with his purposely melodramatic performance.
As he concluded, the group turned to greet us. Emmett grinned at Edward and me. "Hope you had a peaceful night!" I frowned at him, to no effect.
Nessie put her hand to my face, letting me know she was hungry. Edward smiled. "Breakfast time for the half human?" He paused as we headed toward the kitchen. "Where's Kate?" Edward asked, looking around the room. "And Garrett?"
Tanya snorted. "Out for a walk. For the past two hours. Newlyweds, you know?"
"Do I?" Emmett snickered. "When Edward and Bella..."
"Emmett!" I said sternly. "I would hate to think you're the kind of person who doesn't honour his gambling debts." He growled, but stopped talking. Even though I'd finally put an end to arm wrestling matches with Emmett, I held him to the bets he'd lost while I was at my strongest. He was permanently cut off from remarks about my sex life. It was a trial for him.
We got Nessie to finish an egg and half a slice of toast, and to drink a little orange juice, while Emmett sang Barbry Allen in a deep but surprisingly musical voice. I was headed upstairs to get her dressed but Rosalie asked if she could take care of it. "Sure," I said. "Thanks. I left a couple of outfits in Edward's closet." Nessie ran eagerly to her lovely aunt, and was taken upstairs. To be honest, Renesmee could probably dress herself perfectly well, but we weren't ready to give up the pleasure just yet.
We listened to Tanya sing something in Russian which she said was a folk song about a farmer and a fox; Alice provide a lively performance of Paper Moon; and Carlisle sing an odd, lilting song whose meaning was obscure to me, although it was in some form of English. Rosalie and Nessie rejoined the group, Nessie listening to the music with great interest.
I saw Edward watching me as I listened to the singing. He threw me a pleading look. I frowned a moment in concentration and laboriously lifted my shield, watching a smile steal over his face as my thoughts became clear to him. I had been thinking idly about the voices of the various people in the room. If Edward's voice was like velvet, Carlisle's was like heavyweight silk, soft but with an underlying strength. Esme's was deep and luxuriant, yet warm and caressing, like a sable coat. Rosalie's voice reminded me of wind chimes, and Alice's of little silver bells. Jasper's made me think of polished wood, smooth and hard but conveying a natural warmth; and Emmett's, now that I'd heard him sing, of one of those giant bronze temple bells. Edward looked rapt, strangely fascinated by even the most mundane thoughts that passed through my mind.
Before I could finish my comparisons, I noticed Jasper watching us, and let my shield fall back into place. At Edward's slightly paranoid suggestion, we'd kept the fact that I could remove my shield a secret from the family, as a precaution against the information ever getting back to Aro. We rarely talked about the Volturi, but the implied threat of their existence was always present in the distant background.
Tanya suggested I sing something.
"I don't really sing," I said, hoping she'd move on. "Besides, any songs from my time would be from, well, right now. Not very interesting."
"There must be something you used to sing when you were a little girl, at least," Alice said.
Seeing I would have to take my turn, I suggested a Stephen Foster song I'd heard Gran sing many times. It was probably already old when Gran was a girl, but it was part of my childhood, so it more or less fit the requirements.
"I know that one," Esme told me. "I'll sing it with you, if that makes it easier for you."
I accepted gratefully, and we sang Hard Times accompanied by Jasper's guitar. That was followed up with a World War I recruiting song from Edward; he and Alice singing Alexander's Ragtime Band; and something sad and melodious in Latin from Eleazar.
I looked at the clock. "I'm sorry, but I should get going." I stood up to take Nessie from Rosalie's lap.
"Where are you off to today?" Carmen asked.
"To my father's house. I wanted to spend some time with him before we leave, and let him say goodbye to Nessie."
"Will you be seeing him again?" she asked solemnly.
I was momentarily startled before I realized this was a reasonable question. New vampires rarely - well, more like never - kept up contact with their human acquaintances. It was not unheard of to fake death as a way of explaining their sudden disappearance. "Yes, I'll be coming back to visit. But it's the first time I actually went away and lived somewhere else. He's used to seeing us at least once a week."
"It's a rare privilege for one of our kind."
"Don't get her started," Rosalie murmured.
"I know." I gave my family a grateful look. "I'm very lucky."
Edward saw me to the door. "Are you sure you don't need me there?" He'd offered to stay behind today and let me have some private time with Charlie.
"No, it's probably better this way." Charlie had come to accept Edward, but was still not entirely comfortable around him.
He kissed me and then Nessie, and I opened the door just as Garrett and Kate arrived at the doorstep, looking slightly rumpled. I greeted them and held the door to let them pass.
"Hi! What did we miss?" Kate called out as she entered the house, hand in hand with Garrett. I could see Emmett's eyes light up at the prospect of somebody to tease, and made my escape before he could get underway.
I strapped Nessie into her booster seat, the only one we'd been able to find that fit properly in my Ferrari. It was not generally considered a family car. Nessie didn't really need child restraints for safety, but I couldn't explain that to highway patrol, should I ever get pulled over. She entertained me on the way by singing Edward's recruiting song for me, the militant lyrics sounding incongruous in her piping child's voice. I thought about the idealistic young Edward who had been so stirred by these songs and other patriotic hoopla, he'd decided to enlist in the army the moment he was old enough. If the influenza epidemic hadn't intervened, he would have gone, and more than likely died on a battlefield in Europe. My mind wandered over subjects like fate and random chance, and the way wonderful things could arise out of truly terrible events. I caught Nessie's eye in the rear view mirror, and she leaned forward in her seat, stretching her hand out to touch me and tell me something.
"Use your words, Nessie." I giggled to myself. I often heard parents say that to their young children, but the meaning was a little different.
"Momma, if we go away tomorrow, when will we see Grandpa Charlie again?"
"I don't know exactly, but fairly soon. We'll come back to visit."
"Will he come to visit us?"
"I'm not sure about that. Grandpa doesn't like to travel, and it's harder for him to get away from his job. It might be better if we came here instead." Especially in a few years, when we'd assumed our fake identities. "We'll come back when he and Sue get married, for sure."
"Yes! Aunt Alice said I get to wear a fancy dress." She sounded much too happy about that for my liking. "I like Sue. She's kind of like Poppa."
That surprised me. "How is she like Poppa?"
Nessie tried to find words, becoming frustrated with their limitations. I reached my hand back to her, and she took it in relief, showing me a series of glimpses of Edward becoming angry or morose because someone he loved had been hurt or upset. I saw parallel images of Sue, reacting the same way over Seth or Leah, or on one occasion Charlie. I remembered the way she had cut off her hair, apparently as a gesture of support for Leah. It seemed very insightful of Nessie. I merely said, "I like Sue, too."
"Will she be Grandma Sue, or will I still call her Sue?"
"After they're married? Maybe we should find out what she would like better."
I pulled the Ferrari up in front of Charlie's house, causing a neighbour to peek through the curtains at it, quickly popped in my contact lenses, lifted Nessie from the back seat, and headed for the house. The irritable retriever from three doors down jumped off its front steps as I appeared, looking aggressive and territorial; but when it came within twenty feet of me, it stopped short. It froze in one place a moment before beginning to whimper, shake, and back away. It writhed, rolled briefly on its back in terror, and finally turned and dashed off in the opposite direction, making strange, panicky noises as it went. "Oh, what do you know?" I muttered, hurrying along to the front steps. The door swung open as I reached the porch, and Seth Clearwater stood smiling at me, chewing something. "Nice to see you, Bella. Hey, Nessie."
"Hi, Seth." Renesmee smiled at him and then ran to her grandfather, who was sitting at the kitchen table finishing his morning coffee. Sue sat across from him with a cup of tea, but while Charlie was still in his bathrobe, Sue was fully dressed. I was well aware that Sue spent almost every night here, except when Charlie stayed at her place; but Charlie continued to maintain the facade that Sue had just happened to drop in for dinner, breakfast, or whatever else was going on at the time. I was touched by his efforts not to scandalize me, futile though they were. "Hey, Dad. Sue."
"How are you, Bella?" Sue said pleasantly enough. The natural enemies thing was nearly behind us. She'd stopped cropping her hair very short, and for some reason I took that as a sign she'd given up some of her resentment. Her straight, dark hair, neatly parted on one side, now reached her chin. She'd be a nice looking bride.
Charlie turned in his chair. "Morning, Bells. How's the moving coming along?"
"Pretty fast. We'll be ready to go on schedule." I swallowed against the slight burn in my throat. I was used to it now, but it was still irritating.
"Good." He scooped Nessie up onto his lap. "Sure you don't need a hand?"
"No, we've got a whole houseful. It's all taken care of."
Seth returned to the kitchen and stood at the counter to finish his supersized breakfast. The wolves often ate like that, I'd noticed. Maybe they thought sitting slowed them down. "That's one nice thing about a big family."
"True."
Charlie gave me a funny look. "You're going to be living in your own place, you and Edward, right?"
"Sure. You know that; the little brick house. I showed you a picture." The house a few minutes from the Cullen home and conveniently close to a national forest.
"Yeah. Good. It just seems a little difficult for a young couple to be living with the in-laws."
"I see what you mean, but the Cullens are very easy to get along with." Sue grimaced slightly, and I tried changing the subject. "Sue, I have a trunkful of canned goods and stuff that Esme sent over for the shelter." It was a residence and assistance programme for battered women, a cause dear to Esme's heart. Sue volunteered there regularly.
"Thanks. How about I put it in my car now, before I forget?"
"I'll get it, Mom." Seth dumped his dishes in the sink and trotted to the front door, snagging Sue's car keys on his way by, and hauled the items from my trunk into Sue's. "Nice of Esme," he commented. I agreed. He looked at his watch as we returned to the house. "Mom, I'm going to run over and see Jake, okay?"
"Sure."
He turned to me. "Bella, Jake's probably going back to your place later, right?"
"Yeah, I was going to offer him a ride."
"I'd like to stop in and say goodbye to Edward. Could you give us both a ride back when you go?"
"No problem."
"Okay. I'll see you around dinnertime."
"When else?" Sue said. Seth grinned at her and dashed out the front door.
Sue rose and carried her mug and Charlie's to the sink. I mentally shook my head over Charlie's acceptance of being waited on whenever there was a woman in the house. Still, it was better for all concerned that he wasn't doing any of the cooking. "I have to get to work," she told me.
Charlie looked up. "Half day today, right?"
"Right."
"Want to come by this afternoon?" he asked casually.
"That would be fine."
I smiled at the pretense that Sue wasn't in residence. It was silly, although a little sweet that Charlie was still trying to set a good example for me.
Sue leaned over to kiss Charlie goodbye, which he accepted awkwardly since I was in the room. "Bye, Bella. Tell Esme thanks for the donation, will you?" Without waiting for an answer, she walked briskly out the front door. I heard her car start and rumble down the street.
It was just Charlie and me, which probably meant a quiet day. We still never found that much to say to one another. Charlie had got some sheets of paper and two pencils, and was presenting Nessie with simple drawings and inviting her to copy them. It wasn't a bad idea; drawing was a favourite pastime of hers, although she had to fake incompetence as long as Charlie was watching.
"She's so damn smart!" he commented, watching Nessie copy his sketch of a house.
"Yes, she is," I said proudly. Among her other fine qualities. I sat at the table across from Charlie.
"Help yourself to a drink or whatever." He still made these offers, although he must have noticed I never accepted them.
"Thanks, I'm good."
He nodded. "So. Off to college at last."
"Yep!"
"Pretty exciting."
"Yeah, it is." Most of our conversations still went like this.
"Nervous?"
"Oh, a little. But I'm sure I'll get used to it fast."
"Sure." He watched Nessie a while longer, frowning slightly when she sketched a more detailed house, this one looking strikingly like Charlie's own. He looked over at me, and I immediately sensed something was up.
"What was going on with Mrs. Powell's dog?" he asked, very casually.
"The dog? Nothing. He growled at me a little, then just ran off."
Charlie seemed to be thinking this over. "I was watching out the window. The dog looked like he was having a fit."
"You think so?" I asked rhetorically. "Do you have any orange juice for Nessie?" Changing the subject seemed like a good idea.
"Sure, right in the door of the fridge." I got up to pour her drink. "The dog looked afraid of you."
"Maybe. I don't know." I handed Nessie the drink, which she didn't really want. She gave me a look. "Nessie, what do we say?" Her look darkened. She never had to be reminded to be polite, not since she was mere weeks old, but I was trying to sound like a normal mother.
"Thank you," she said evenly. She had given her house an attached garage and rose covered trellis, and was starting to sketch in casement style awnings. I carefully covered her drawing with a blank sheet. "Can you draw a star, sweetie, like this?" I asked, drawing one for her to copy from. She grimaced, understanding the reminder: don't do anything significantly better than an average child your apparent age. She sighed and started laboriously drawing a very lopsided star.
I sat back down at the table, but Charlie hadn't been distracted from his point. "Just like the cat that was walking by that one time you came over. You went out the front door, and it went berserk."
"I guess I have a way with animals."
"Bells." His voice was serious. "I know there are some...odd things going on with you and the Cullens."
Like our own Personal Empowerment Music Retreat? I shrugged noncommittally, not sure yet where this was going.
"I just need to ask you..."
We were interrupted by a knock. Making an impatient sound, Charlie opened the front door to let Jake in.
"Hi, Charlie. Hi, Bella." We answered, but his eyes were already on Renesmee, who reached her hands out to him happily. He examined and commented on her drawings before turning back to us. "Sorry to barge in, but Seth and I and a bunch of others are going down to the beach. I was wondering if I could take Nessie. Last chance for a while to see the ocean."
"Sure, I guess so." I looked at Nessie. "Would you like to go, baby?" She nodded. "Okay, but just for a couple of hours."
"Should you get the car seat?" Charlie asked.
"I have one in my car," Jake told him, picking Nessie up. "C'mon, Ness. Biggest sand castle of all time, and you'll be there to witness it in the making." He gave us a wave, and was out the door.
Charlie sat back down. "He has his own car seat?"
"He sees Nessie a lot. Babysits her sometimes."
"Is she safe with him? He was always kind of a knucklehead, you know?"
He'd had his moments. "Jake's grown up a lot, Dad. Nessie's safer with him than she would be with almost anyone." Literally true. Her safety was essential to Jake's peace of mind.
He nodded. For a moment I thought the serious talk had been tabled. "Bella." He sat down on the sofa, and I nervously perched on the armchair opposite him. "I know I'm not supposed to ask about these things." Then don't, I thought, trying to think ahead and have an answer ready for every eventuality. "But you're leaving the area now, I won't be seeing you as often, and I have to know that you're going to be okay. I just want to make sure..." He ran down uncertainly.
I could see no way to avoid this. "What is it you're worried about, Dad?"
