With very few minor exceptions the characters are the creation of Stephenie Meyer and belong exclusively to her. Thanks to my niece Shannon Fawr for being my beta reader and for adding all the lovely touches to the tale. Also many thanks to my research assistant, Jonathan Dobson, for all the times he answered my call for just another odd piece of information.

Sorry the update took so long, but this is the first of four new chapters...

High Noon

Chapter 7

Jacob and Ness left Alice happily making arrangements for the last party the Cullens would throw in Forks for a very long time. There was one visit they both wanted to make before that undoubtedly over the top party invitation arrived.

The late afternoon sun glinted through the clouds in orange rays off Jacob's car as he drove to the house. Throwing an affectionate look at her fiancé, Ness drew a deep breath and knocked on Charlie Swan's front door. Charlie still had his uniform on when he opened the door, a big smile on his face at the sight of two of his favorite people. "Nessie! Jake! Come on in! How are you kids doing?"

When Ness threw her arms around her grandfather and hugged him exuberantly, Charlie hugged her back, enjoying the closeness. Somehow his aversion to showing emotions slipped away where she was concerned.

He looked down into her glowing face and said curiously, "You look like you're brimming over with excitement, Ness. What's up?" He quizzed her.

Jacob took her hand. "We wanted you to be one of the first to know, Charlie. We're engaged." Sue was standing just behind Charlie and to the side. Jake's eyes begged her not to tell him that she already knew.

His gaze went back to Charlie's face, which was frozen in shock, and he quickly added, "We aren't getting married until after her next birthday; we're just engaged."

Charlie nodded abstractedly. There was a furrow between his eyebrows and he chewed on his lower lip as if to lock it in place while he considered his response.

"Engaged, hmmm? All of you folks seem to be in such a big hurry to get married before you've even seen much of life." He seemed almost to be talking to himself, but turned back to Jake and clapped a hand on his back. "I've always liked you, Jake! I think you are a nice guy with plenty of promise and you know that I was disappointed when Bella didn't marry you." He turned to his granddaughter. "You sure you want this guy, Ness? He used to hang out after your mom, you know."

"I know," Ness laughed. "But that was before he met me, Grandpa. That made all the difference. Jake and I belong together. We always have."

Charlie shook his head. His eyes, questioning, met his wife's. Sue shrugged slightly and smiled at him.

"And," Ness informed him, "Alice is throwing us an engagement party. You'll get an invitation, of course."

"Hmph! An engagement party, hmm?" Charlie looked at Sue again. "Guess we're going to a party."

Ness threw her arms around him. "You're okay with this, aren't you, Grandpa? I always thought you'd kind of like having Jake as a member of the family."

Charlie hugged her. "I already consider Jake to be family, sweetheart. Somehow I just hadn't pictured you getting married so soon. You know, your parents got married early too and I guess I just haven't gotten used to it, even now. You know you are only six, don't you?"

"I know I'm grown up… and so do you," she replied cheekily. "I love you, Grandpa," Ness murmured up into Charlie's ear.

Charlie held her tightly against him. "And I love you, Nessie," he whispered against the top of her head before dropping a kiss on it. "All I want is your happiness, sweetheart."

The next day Charlie opened his door to Bella and Edward. His mental antenna went up before they had crossed the threshold.

Bella reached up to kiss him and hug him briefly and his suspicious instincts kicked into high gear. "Hey, Bells… Edward." He nodded at his son-in-law. "Two visits in as many days. Can't remember the last time that happened... if ever."

The three of them went into the living room. Sue joined them from the kitchen, and then said, "If you don't mind, I have some work to do on the computer."

Charlie nodded and Sue went up the stairs to Bella's old room. It was refurnished as a study with a sofa bed.

Bella and Edward were looking at one another in a way that made Charlie feel uneasy. It was as if they were having a conversation without speaking. He sat across from them and said, "Let's cut to the chase. Is this about Jacob and Nessie?"

"Only partly," Bella said. She glanced at Edward again and he picked up the explanation for their visit.

"As you know, Charlie, Bella and I deferred going to college so that we could be there to raise Ness. Now she is ready for college too. Also, Jacob has not gone to college so we thought all of us could go together."

"Where are you planning to go?" Charlie asked.

"Our first year will be at the University of Alaska, as we once discussed. After that we may continue there, or go to Dartmouth as we planned at the time of our marriage, or possibly go elsewhere. It's undecided. We have an open invitation to stay with our relatives at Denali in their guest house. It's near Fairbanks so we will be going to school there instead of in Juneau."

"But we are hoping you will come up often and visit, Dad," Bella added quickly. "It's not that far away from Forks."

"No," Charlie agreed with a touch of sarcasm, "Just around the corner, in fact."

"It's closer than Florida, Dad. Or even closer than Dartmouth," Bella said.

"I know, Bella," Charlie nodded, considering. "I know you've been here longer than I had thought you would. You could have left for school sooner, but you stayed here and I got to see Nessie grow up." He laughed shakily. "Really fast… and I don't want to know how, but I wouldn't have missed it for anything." He turned and looked at Edward. "These relatives of yours in Alaska… How would they feel about visitors if Sue and I came up fairly often?"

"They would welcome you, Charlie," Edward said sincerely.

"Well, that's… very nice of them." Charlie murmured. "How long will it be before you leave?"

"It's not determined just yet," Bella said. "We've missed the fall semester, but hope to be there for the spring semester. It may be sometime in January. I know that Ness is hoping we'll be here for Christmas. She loves having it here with you."

"Yeah," Charlie smiled at the thought of his granddaughter. "It's been more fun since she's been around."

"I see no reason that we can't return for Christmas in the future," Edward said.

"Let's not make any long term promises just now," Charlie suggested. "If you can, I would welcome it, but we don't need to discuss it yet."

Sue came downstairs and, walking up to Charlie, wrapped her arm around his waist. He smiled down at her.

"What would you say," he asked her, "to occasional visits to Alaska to see the kids?"

"Sounds great to me," Sue said. "Leah came by a couple of days ago and told me that she and Seth are going."

"Really?" Charlie asked. "I had no idea that Leah was interested in going to college."

"She is," Edward entered the conversation. "I'm offering to pay tuition for Leah, Seth and Embry too, so that Jake could have some of his…" he paused very briefly to choose his word, "friends around him. They want to come."

"Generous of you," Charlie said. "Are you sure you can afford that much tuition?"

Edward smiled slightly. "Yes, sir. My birth parents left me quite a lot of money. It is unlikely that I would ever spend it in my lifetime… and I appreciate the chance to use it to improve the lives of others."

Charlie looked at Edward with new respect. He should have figured the kid was loaded; he liked giving very expensive presents too much not to be. For a moment the thought annoyed Charlie. Then he realized that Edward's fortune meant security for Bella, Nessie, and Jake. Suddenly he was very pleased about it… especially since it was obvious that his son-in-law was unselfish in its use.

"I'm sure they're glad they know someone willing to give them such a great gift," Charlie clapped Edward on the shoulder, something he had never previously done. "You're a good man, Edward."

"Thank you, Charlie," Edward smiled into his eyes. "I try to be."

Bella was delighted that her husband and father were in such accord. It was something she had longed to see for years.

"Nessie seems happy," Charlie observed.

"She is," Bella confirmed. "She's over the moon happy to be engaged to Jake."

Charlie laughed. "That was my impression. When is this engagement party I'm supposed to be getting an invitation to?"

"Next Friday," Edward answered.

"We'll be there," Charlie affirmed after glancing at Sue for approval and receiving a distinct nod.

Bella stood up. "We'll see you then, if not sooner, Dad."

She kissed his cheek, giving him a hug. Charlie shook Edward's hand. Then they were gone.

Charlie closed the door, then glanced at the floor as he asked Sue, "You said Leah came by a couple of days ago?"

"Yes."

"To tell you they were going?"

"Not really. To ask me whether I thought she should go. Seth had already committed to going."

Charlie looked directly at her. "You didn't think I might be interested in knowing?"

Sue shrugged slightly. "I didn't know how to bring it up. Besides, I knew Bella and Nessie well enough to know that one of them would tell you."

He looked toward the window. "I wonder why Nessie didn't tell me yesterday…"

Sue laughed softly and went over to put her arms around his neck. "Dear Charlie! She was far too excited to be telling you about her engagement. I'm sure she wasn't even thinking of the move. Her party is next week while the move is a few months away. It shows proper regard on the part of Bella and Edward that they made a point of telling you this soon."

Charlie nodded. "They're turning out better than I thought they'd be. He's growing on me. And they did a decent job of raising Nessie. Of course seven years of raising a child doesn't take the long term stamina that eighteen years does… and I don't even want to talk about how that happened." He shook his head. "All that money too! Hmm. I don't think I want to talk about that either." He shook his head again and Sue laughed up at him. Charlie smiled down at her and then kissed her.

Edward asked Jake to bring his pack to the house Saturday morning. Ness and Edward were waiting for them on the porch.

"Thanks for stopping by," Edward began. "I just wanted to talk to everyone about the move to Alaska. You know why we're going and why you personally decided to join us. None of those reasons can be used if someone who does not already know about you, and about us, asks questions. It's always a good idea to have easy answers to ordinary questions. People who are randomly interested in you don't stay curious if they think they already have answers… especially answers you gave them. For that reason I have told Charlie Swan that we will all be attending the University of Alaska in Fairbanks. That will be the official reason for our move. All of us will need to send in applications."

"College!" Ness said. "We get to go to college?"

"Yes," Edward told her with a smile.

Leah looked more excited than usual before remembering to look noncommittal. Seth met her eyes and saw the yearning in them.

"That's a lot of money," Seth said. "We don't have it, Edward. Sorry."

"Money is not a problem. I will pay everyone's tuition," Edward assured him.

Leah allowed herself to be excited but worked to keep her excitement out of her expression. Seth grinned at her. He wasn't fooled.

Embry had a different question. "What do we take there? What if we aren't interested in college?"

"You can take anything you want to," Edward said. "Enrollment is part of the deal because our official reason is our cover. It has to look like we're doing what we said we would be doing."

Jake looked at Embry. "Problem, Embry?"

Embry shook his head. "Not if I can take whatever I'd like."

"Any other questions?" Edward asked. "If not, please take one of these applications with you, fill them out, and return them to me. I'll add the registration fees and send them to UAF."

Once again the Cullen drive was twinkling with a multitude of small white lights. The guest list was small and select because not a lot of people knew about Ness. Alice had not allowed the size of the party to keep it from being brilliant. The house glowed with subdued romantic lighting. The music had been hand selected by Jake and Ness; every song was a favorite of theirs. The food was plentiful and the bar was open. Emmett and Rosalie had volunteered to tend bar. Since the party was small, Alice had a dance floor installed near the music.

Ness had wanted the party to be completely casual and had planned to wear jeans and her favorite tee shirt. Alice absolutely forbade that idea and provided the outfits for both Ness and Bella. She gave Bella strict instructions on her vision of how Bella was to look and took over the dressing of Ness herself. When she was finished Ness looked like a cross between an angel and a fairy princess. Her dress was an off the shoulder white silk gown. The graceful draping revealed a lot of her back and it flowed elegantly to the floor where white designer heels could be seen peeping beneath it. Her bronze hair curled over her shoulders and back. Her makeup was glittery and she was beautiful.

Jacob had to hold the banister for a moment when he caught sight of Ness as she came downstairs. He had to remind himself to close his mouth… and to breathe.

"Wow," he said reverently. "You are so beautiful!"

Ness laughed, "Thank you! You should see your face! It's just me…" she grabbed his hand and pulled him with her over to the dance floor. Once there, she kicked off her shoes and melted into his arms as they danced.

Alice, resplendent in deep scarlet, followed her downstairs moments later. She pursed her lips as she noted the discarded shoes and shook her head regretfully. "Her mother's daughter," she murmured to herself.

Edward waited for Bella to finish getting ready at the cottage. She kept up a steady stream of scathing commentary. Finally she emerged in a floor length gown of sapphire silk that was strapless and draped beautifully. Matching pumps set off her legs that could be seen where the gown was slit. Her hair tumbled down her back the way her husband preferred it.

He took her hand. "You look perfect. If you ask me, you'll outshine Ness."

Bella snorted. "No, I won't. Alice has orchestrated this event and she will have Ness firmly at center stage. I just can't believe that she didn't trust me to select my own clothes! It's not like she didn't make sure I had plenty to choose from. That closet is full of stuff I still haven't worn, but she took us into Seattle to shop for new dresses."

Her husband brought her hand to his lips. "I have always loved you in that color. That's why she chose it."

Bella never could resist him. "I'm glad you like it." She raised her face for his kiss.

Edward held her lovely face in his hands and smiled down at her. "I suppose we have to go."

"Do you really want Alice to see why we aren't there if we don't?" Bella asked him mischievously.

"Mmmm. Probably not," He admitted. "But you have a date with me later."

Bella traced her fingers down the sides of his face and kissed him again. "Yes, I do."

Moments later, they entered the main house. The party was in full swing. Both packs of wolves were there. Sam, Jared, and Paul brought their wives, the girls they had originally imprinted on. Billy Black was there. Charlie and Sue had just arrived.

Alice eyed Bella and Edward crossly. "You could have come early to greet people," she hissed at them. "I was about to see what was keeping you."

Edward leaned toward his sister and murmured, "You saw what kept us. Get over it. We came."

Alice sighed. "This is the thanks I get for…"

"We are grateful, Alice," Bella put her arm around her best friend and hugged her, saying sincerely. "No one else I know has your gift for hospitality."

Rosalie, elegant in black, was passing by and overheard the last part of their conversation. "Just think, Alice… If you were still human and married to anyone important you would have become a brilliant society hostess!"

Alice smiled across the room at Jasper, who blew her a kiss. "I may not be human, but I am married to someone important." She looked at Rose, Edward, and Bella and her black brows arched. "And I am a brilliant society hostess…. I just have a smaller society to entertain."

Edward laughed softly, Bella nodded in agreement, and Rose muttered as she returned to the bar, "Some society. A pack of mutts and those who associate with them…"

Bella went up to Charlie. "Having a good time?"

He nodded. "You know, Bells, I especially like Alice's parties. They have great food and are never too crowded. I always know everyone, too. Makes it a lot more comfortable than most parties we get asked to."

"Tell Alice that. She'll appreciate it," Bella advised him.

Charlie nodded. "I'll do that."

Edward walked up to Bella. "My dance, I believe."

"You go ahead, Bella," Charlie told her. He threw in a zinger just before turning back to a conversation Sue and Billy Black were having. "Soon you'll be a mother-in-law."

Bella looked stricken. "Oh, God, I will! Edward…!" She was indignant at his laugh.

"Love, you have known Jacob for years. He has always been your best friend and I doubt very much that he will ever think of you as his mother-in-law."

Edward was openly laughing at her when Carlisle swept an emerald clad Esme off the dance floor and approached them. "Edward, when were you planning on making the announcement?"

"Might as well do it now, I suppose," Edward replied.

They approached the grand staircase and mounted it just enough to survey the room.

Rosalie brought a tray filled with glasses of champagne around. Everyone there took one.

Jake had been watching for them. He stopped dancing with Ness and brought her hand to his mouth. He kissed her palm and said, "Here we go."

Ness felt her heartbeat accelerate with excitement. She slipped her shoes on, grabbed Jake's hand, and together they joined Bella and Edward on the staircase.

Edward said, "Friends and family." He waited for the room to quiet. "Thank you for coming. As you know, this party is to celebrate the engagement of our daughter Renesmee to Jacob Black. We know that they have loved one another for years and believe that they will be in love for the rest of their lives. Please join us in a toast to their happiness."

There were wolf calls and applause. Everyone smiled and many kisses were exchanged. Champagne was drunk. And, in the autumn woods, an unseen emissary in a grey cloak watched silently.