Disclaimer: - I do not own Twilight, or anything Twilight related.

Chapter 4 - Being Normal

As Renesmee flew down the stairs in excitement, she didn't realise that she had left Hannah behind. Hannah was still at the top of the large white staircase, as Renesmee reached the bottom.
"Wow, Ness, you can really move when you want to, you should definitely try out for the track team" laughed Hannah, finally reaching the bottom. It felt like an eternity to Renesmee, she was so eager to see if her parents, her real parents, liked her best friend as much as the others had. As much as she does.

As they walked into the living room, Renesmee could see Edward and Jasper playing chess at the huge oval table, which they usually used for family meetings. They had needed to get a bigger table than the one they had in Forks anyway, as the family had grown by 2 more, with the additions of Renesmee and Jacob.
They never used it to eat at, as Renesmee and Jake were the only 2 in the house who ate, so Esme had a breakfast bar put in the kitchen for them, that way, they could eat together at meal times.
Bella sat on the other side of the table, behind a mountain of books, all open at certain chapters, all placed scattily on top of each other. She looked like she was doing her Calculus homework, but Renesmee knew that her mother had done Calculus for so many years, that she had it all memorised. Clearly, this was for Hannah's benefit.

Alice meanwhile was flitting around the room like something from the ballet, dusting and cleaning as she went. This must have been the first thing she could think of as she heard Renesmee and her friend come down the stairs. She was almost as excited as Renesmee to have a new friend in the house.

"Grandpa and Grandma must have told them that Hannah was here, and to act normal I suppose" thought Renesmee to herself, shrugging slightly. Edward gave her a small smile and a wink, so quick that it would never have been seen by human eyes.
"Thanks Dad, I really appreciate this, Hannah is really nice, I really like her" she replied in her mind. She knew her father would approve of Hannah.

"Han, this is my sister, Bella" said Renesmee proudly, as Bella looked up from her books, put her pen down and rose from her seat.
"Hello Hannah, it's nice to meet you finally, we've heard of nothing but Hannah this and Hannah that..." laughed Bella.

"And this is my Da...erm...brother, Edward" said Renesmee, as Edward crossed the room to put an arm round his daughter and smiled at Hannah.
"Oh my gosh, he's absolutely gorgeous!" noted Hannah in her thoughts, every word heard by Edward himself.
Edward stiffened, and his face changed from happiness to apprehension. He didn't like the fact that one of Renesmee's friends thought about him that way, even though she thought he was just Renesmee's brother, and still only 17 years old, he himself knew he was in fact her father, and actually closer to 130 years old. He was starting to wonder if this girl was a true friend to Renesmee, or just another girly teenager.
"Be nice darling, this girl means a lot to our daughter" thought Bella, flashing a knowing smile at him. She knew that look anywhere, she had seen girls giving Edward that look since she had known the Cullens - and she also knew exactly how Edward would feel about it. Being an 'average-ordinary-everyday' teenager in their class was one thing, but being their daughter's best friend was a completely different thing altogether. It just felt wrong to him somehow.

"Obviously, you have already met Emmett, Rosalie and Jake" she said looking into the other room, "And over there is Jasper" as motioned towards the corner of the room, where Jasper remained at the Chess board, happy to keep his distance. He simply gave a small wave of his hand and a welcoming smile.

"So by process of elimination, you must be Alice" said Hannah smiling confidently, turning to look at Alice to her left, who was practically dancing on her toes, wanting to rush over and say a proper hello.
"Yes, I'm Alice; it's so nice to meet you. You must be the girl who was wearing that fabulous dress?" asked Alice quickly, eagerly.
Hannah shot Renesmee a quick, yet confused look.
"The day I met you, you were showing me around the school grounds, and you were wearing that blue dress. I told Alice you had good dress sense, and since she is something of a fashion expert, I thought you two would get on very well" explained Renesmee.
"Ah". Hannah understood. "Well, if you ever want to borrow it, you're more than welcome. You only have to ask" offered Hannah kindly.
Alice face changed and she looked like she would explode. She let out a small excited squeal, on a level only registered with vampire and werewolf hearing.
She had never really had proper girlfriends before, apart from her sisters and niece. No-one from outside her family really wanted to hang around long enough to truly understand what a brilliant, beautiful person Alice was. Besides Renesmee, she had always been the only member of the Cullen family who wanted friends, rather than the rest of the family, who understood that humans were ignorant when it came to something didn't understand. Their instincts would usually kick in, and tell them to flee.
Alice always believed there was something special in everyone; everyone had a kind side, a good side.

"Hey, you want a snack?" asked Renesmee. "We've got Oreo's, Cheese Balls, Twinkies, Hot Pockets..." she trailed off, as she dragged Hannah by the hand towards the kitchen. They were closely followed by Jacob, who had been watching the Redskins game with Emmett.
"Ooh, snacks…sounds good" he called, in response to Renesmee, even though she hadn't actually been talking to him. Renesmee rolled her eyes at Hannah, and they both giggled, as Jacob bound across the room with ease behind them, and getting in the middle of them, draping a warm, toned arm over each of their shoulders.

"So, Hannah, are you coming to the movies with us on Friday night?" asked Jacob, taking out a huge carton of orange juice from the fridge, whilst Renesmee went to get the glasses. She and Hannah sat on the stools at the breakfast bar, whilst he poured the drinks, and threw lots of bags of whatever he could find on the table. He looked over at Renesmee, who clapped her hand to her forehead.
"Oh yeah – sorry - I meant to ask, we're going to see that new movie that's out" said Renesmee, opening a bag of Cheetos, and pouring them into a large white bowl. "Bella and Edward are coming too and maybe Alice".
"Yeah, sounds fun. I've been wanting to see that one, it looks really good. I'll have to get my Dad to drop me off though, because I still can't drive" she replied, rolling her eyes and then averting them to the floor, a little embarrassed. With her half-vampire vision, Renesmee failed to notice this.
"Don't worry Han, me neither. Jake does all my running around for me, don't you Jakey?" and she gave Jacob a kiss on the cheek, as she waltzed behind him, and put the orange juice back in the fridge. "We can pick you up on the way".

"Thanks Ness, thanks Jake. I can't wait until I can drive though, I'm taking lessons and stuff, but goodness knows when I'll actually pass my test" she laughed.
Hannah smiled contentedly, putting another Cheeto into her mouth.

All three sat there for a minute or so, eating and drinking.

"So, Bella and Edward are together" asked Hannah, not quite a statement, and not quite a question either. It was almost as if it was to break the silence.
"Yeah, and Alice and Jasper, and Emmett and Rosalie...it's not like that though, we're not proper brothers and sisters...we were all adopted...and Jake isn't related to us either" protested Renesmee, slightly panicked. Jacob looked up at her, with a mouth full of Oreos, and his eyebrows pulled together, confused. Renesmee could understand how the situation would sound to someone outside the family – someone who would judge them.
"It's ok Ness, I think it's really nice actually. I don't know much of your lives, but I imagine you have all been through so much, and to find love - all of you - I think it's really lovely". Renesmee looked at Hannah, whilst she was tucking into the Ding Dongs that Jacob had previously opened, and saw that she genuinely meant it. She didn't seem jealous that Renesmee had a boyfriend, and a huge family, and that she had none of these things. She seemed honest, and caring. "And besides, I think Bella and Edward make a beautiful couple" she finished off. "Well, they all do actually. You have got a really gorgeous family; all of you are so stunning".

Edward had been listening again, trying to figure out the young lady sat in their kitchen, trying to see if there was something more to her than she was letting on. He was shocked however, to find that his initial thought of the new arrival was somewhat misjudged.
She was not a silly little girl like the rest of Renesmee's so-called friends – the ones who had come and go over the previous years when they realised the beautiful Cullen men were not going to leave their life partners, their mates. She was not an airhead, or a drama queen, or so strange like most teenagers he had come to know. She was like a certain person he once knew, a person he once admired for her compassion and understanding, one of Bella's best friends. Angela Webber.

"Penny for your thoughts?" asked Bella, stroking her husbands shoulder as she sat down beside him; in front of the TV he was clearly not watching. "You looked like you were eavesdropping?"
"Looks like I was wrong about Hannah, she seems very nice, love. I like her, and I think she will be a good influence on our little girl"
"Like anyone could influence our daughter, she has my stubbornness don't forget" laughed Bella. "It is nice to see Ness so relaxed with someone besides family though, I think this girl is genuine. She seems to be anyway, but I could be wrong"

"No, you have pretty much got it spot on. She isn't like the rest, she's different love" he smiled, playing with a stray lock of Bella's hair that had dropped from her shoulder.
"Oh, and our daughter has just invited her to the movies with us on Friday night, so it looks like we're definitely going after all" he replied, kissing the top of Bella's head gently, and wrapping his strong arm around her protectively and lovingly. "I love our daughter with all of my being, all of my existence...but I'm not sure I can sit through another movie of her choice. I remember the last one we went to watch with her. I am a very patient man Bella…" to which Bella let out a snort in disbelief, "but the last movie we went to see was excruciating" he concluded, laughing, and turning back to pretend to be watching TV again.

"Daddy, I was wondering if I could ask Hannah to sleep over on Friday night after the movie? Pleeeeaaassssseeee?" thought Renesmee, drawing out the 'please' in a long, sweet girly way that she knew her father could not ignore.

"Ness wants to know if Hannah can stay over after the movie" said Edward to the group, so hushed that Hannah would never be able to hear. "How do the rest of you feel about that?"
"I'm sure that won't be a problem honey" replied Esme, in the same hushed tone. "It's about time that Renesmee had someone she could hang out with besides the family, it's healthy for her" she smiled, realising the irony of anything needing to be healthy for a half human - half vampire teenage girl. Without a word, the rest of the family's thoughts were filled with positive answers to him.

"Well, we can't just walk in and say 'Yeah, I heard your thoughts, and sure Hannah can stay over' can I?" asked Edward.

"Leave it to me" Esme said, as she got up gracefully and made her way to the kitchen.

"Having fun guys?" she asked, whilst grabbing a glass from the top cupboard, and pouring herself some juice.
"Erm...yeah...thanks" Renesmee looked confused, as she looked at her grandmother, then the glass of juice, knowing that she would never drink it - besides Renesmee and Jacob, the family didn't eat or drink anything that was for human consumption. The thought revolted them, but they would sometimes have to put on a show for their classmates in the cafeteria. She looked over to Jacob, who was slowly taking a drink from his own glass, with the same confused look on his face.

"Oh, did you ask Hannah about the movies, darling?"

"Yeah, she's coming. Jake and I are going to take her with us"

"Well, as you don't have school the next day, why doesn't Hannah stay over...that is if you would like to Hannah?" asked Esme, looking innocent. She threw Renesmee a sly wink, and quickly resumed her innocent look again, before Hannah noticed.

Within that split second, the whole glass-of-juice scenario, which seemed so surreal, suddenly made sense.

"Erm...yeah, that would be great, thank you Mrs Cullen"

"No problem, and call me Esme sweetie. Mrs Cullen is far too formal" she said giving a small motherly laugh. Hannah smiled back, looking content. Renesmee was also smiling widely as she watched Edward cross the kitchen doorway, and give her a quick look.

"Thanks Daddy" thought Renesmee. "Love you".