Chapter Six

In the end, the ride back to Forks from Emma's house in Seattle seemed to take a much shorter amount of time to the two girls in the backseat. Of course, that was most likely due to the fact that both of them fell asleep not too long after they had gotten into the car after 'helping' Edward load all of the boxes into the trunk.

When I saw the smirk on Edward's face as he imperceptably nodded back in our daughter's direction, I could tell it was taking every ounce of Renesmee's willpower to remain silent as we walked along the path in the woods behind the large white house. However, once we were back in the cottage, she turned to me with a pleading look in her eyes.

"Please can I go, Momma?" She begged. "I need to go see Jacob."

Emma had still been a bit sleepy from her nap in the car, but as Renesmee spoke she turned to look at the older girl.

"Who's Jacob?" She asked, looking innocently at Renesmee. "Is he your boyfriend?"

"No, silly." Renesmee said with a laugh. "He's my best friend. And I haven't seen him in a very long time."

"Why not?" Emma wanted to know.

"Well…" Renesmee said uneasily, unsure of what to say to the little girl without having to explain the 'why' of everything.

"We haven't spent much time here, recently." I jumped in, capturing Emma's attention at once. "Do you know where England is?" Emma thought about it for a moment then nodded. "Well, we've been living there ever since just after Christmas. That was a long time ago, and Renesmee hasn't seen Jacob since then, so she misses him a lot."

"Just like I miss my friends?" Emma asked, speaking again to Renesmee.

"Yeah, I guess so." Renesmee replied.

Emma turned back to look at me, looking very serious. "I think you should let her go see her boyfriend." She told me, sounding very mature for her age. "If she hasn't seen him in that long."

Renesmee gave Emma a glare, but her lips twisted up into a small smile. "He's not my boyfriend."

Emma just rolled her eyes. "O.K."

I merely laughed at the pair's antics, before directing my attention towards my daughter again.

"If you want to go see Jacob, then you can." I told Renesmee. "I'm sure you know the fight he's going to pick with your father if he finds out you've been back for the past day and a half without him knowing about it."

"You're right." Renesmee said, still smiling. "I wouldn't want him to hurt Daddy."

"I heard that!" Edward's voice called from our bedroom, where he had brought all of the boxes that had come from Emma's attic. "Let him try...Again!"

I laughed again, and nodded to Renesmee.

"You go ahead," I said, "Have fun. And tell Jacob 'hi' from the rest of us."

Renesmee nodded and began making her way to the front door. As she did so, I turned to Emma.

"I guess that just leaves you and me." I told the little girl. "What do you say we have some fun?"

Emma just looked at me doubtfully, and I could see the shyness creeping up again in the little girl. I suppose it couldn't be helped, but there was no other way to get the young girl to warm up to any of us than to spend some time with us, starting with me. Of course, that might be helped with Renesmee around since the pair of six-year-olds had grown so close in the past twenty-four hours, but I wasn't about to hold my daughter back from seeing the werewolf that was her best friend any longer.

"Momma?" A voice said from behind me. And, with a slight start, I realized that Renesmee was still standing there, one hand on the doorknob. "Is your heart really and truly set on hanging out with Emma this afternoon?"

"No." I said slowly. "Why, did you have something in mind?"

"Well," Renesmee began, "I happen to know this guy who hangs out with Jacob sometimes. And there's always this little girl hanging around with him, and I know he loves having her around, but I was thinking she might want to make another friend her age. And maybe Emma would like to make a new friend here, too?"

Emma's face immediately brightened at this pronouncement. "A friend? Really? I'd love a friend!"

Renesmee glanced at me. When I gave the most imperceptible of nods, she then back towards Emma and held out a hand. "Well, come on, then. I think if we go now, we might make it in time for their second lunch of the day."

Emma giggled at this, and placed her small hand in Renesmee's larger one. "Their second lunch? That's just silly. You can't eat two lunches."

Renesmee rose an eyebrow as they began walking out of the door. "Are you sure about that? You should see all of the food Jacob and his friends manage to eat. They're like animals sometimes!"

Emma giggled again.

I smiled at the pair of them as I closed the door behind them. For now, I'd leave getting to know Emma to another day. She at least got along very well with Renesmee, and friends close to her own age were much more important in the long run.

Still smiling, I made my way to the bedroom I share with my husband, to find him sitting in the middle of the floor, papers spread all around him.

"Find anything yet?" I asked after a moment, when he didn't immediately look up to acknowledge my presence.

Slowly, he looked up to meet my gaze, a smile upon his face to match mine.

"I think so." Edward replied. "All of these papers go several generations back. And, as far as I can tell, Emma's Great-great Grandmother was a woman named Emma Erikson. Or, as it gives her name on this adoption certificate: Emma Masen."

"Adoption certificate?" I questioned, making my way through the piles of paper swiftly without disturbing them, so that I was crouching beside my husband, looking over his shoulder to read the paper he held in his hand.

Edward nodded, the smallest of frowns visible between his brows. "After our pa—After we died, my sister would have been sent to an orphanage; we had no other family to take her in."

"Almost like Emma, now." I whispered softly.

"My sister was one of the lucky ones: she managed to get out of the orphanage and get adopted." At this Edward's frown deepened just the slightest bit. "Of course, I say lucky, but I have no idea how that adopted family treated her, or how she got along with them after just losing the only family she knew."

"She sounded like a tough little kid." I said comfortingly, putting an arm around his shoulders. "And as we clearly have evidence of, she obviously survived."

Edward smiled grimly.

"What happened after she was adopted?" I asked then, hoping to get his mind moving towards what happened next in his sister's life, and hopefully away from all of the things he would never find out about her.

"I can't tell much." Edward admitted. He held up another piece of paper now, and I could see that it was a marriage certificate this time. "But she got married at the height of the Great Depression, so I'm guessing her adoptive family wasn't too badly off. At least, that's what I'm assuming."

Bella nodded. "That'll be about the time Rosalie became a Cullen, wouldn't it?"

Edward nodded, in answer to her question. "Emma had a daughter in 1936. I'm almost positive that that's her only child."

"What was her name?" I asked now.

"Elizabeth." Edward said softly. "Probably after my mother. And Elizabeth had a son of her own in the 50's." His expression darkened just the slightest bit as he continued. "She named him Edward, after the uncle that died years before she was born."

"I think it's a nice tribute to you." I stated, squeezing his shoulders with the arm that was still wrapped around them. "And your parents as well, if Elizabeth herself was named after your mother. So, Edward must have had a child as well?"

Again, Edward nodded. "Anthony Edward, Emma's father, was born in the mid-80's."

I hesitated for a fraction of a second, contemplating whether or not to ask the question I knew would really pain him to answer, but quickly deciding to do so.

"And your sister Emma was still around then?" I questioned, then rolled my eyes. "Not that that's the most eloquent or sensitive way to put it…"

Edward's lips quirked upwards in the smallest of smiles at that. His face quickly became serious once again, however.

"Emma was still alive and going strong when she became a great-grandmother." He told me. "But she's dead now. She actually died just a short while before I met you." He looked a bit morosely at the paper spread around him, then. "Her daughter, grandson, and granddaughter-in-law all died not too long after her in a fire, just a few months before Emma was born."

"When we were preparing for the big battle against Victoria and her army." I said. I frowned, and shut my eyes tightly, my face screwed as I tried to remember something long since forgotten. "All of those human memories are so distant and foggy now," I admitted, "But I think I recall something about that…" I paused momentarily, still trying to remember as clearly as I could. "Yes…I was so worried with the threat of the newborns, and the Volturi, and just about everything that was going on around the time of graduation, that it kind of just fell to the back of my mind when I got Kate's phone call. She was already pregnant by then, and she called me practically hysterical one night to tell me how Anthony's parents and grandmother had died in a fire that burned down their home. That was still in the midst of all of the mysterious deaths and disappearances, which was Victoria creating her army. Kate was so scared that an accident like the fire might happen at her house, or that she or Anthony might end up dead in an alley one day, charred almost beyond recognition."

"What did you do?" Edward asked when I didn't continue, lost in the flood of dim, human memories, which were currently engulfing me.

"I offered a supportive ear to listen." I said, finally opening my eyes, and getting caught up in my husband's gaze. "There wasn't much else I could do. Although, by that time you lot already suspected Vampire's in Seattle, so I knew enough to encourage her and Anthony to take a nice long vacation somewhere far away from Seattle as soon as the funerals were over. They did just that, and the next time I talked to either of them was after I was changed." I smiled, remembering clearly now. "Charlie was the one who first told me that Kate had had her baby." I smiled a bit wider at mt husband now. "And he told me that they named her after her grandmothers."

"Emma Elizabeth." Edward said softly. "Elizabeth Masen. Emma Elizabeth Erikson. Elizabeth Adams."

"And don't you go forgetting that her father and grandfather both got their names from you." I reminded him. "I know you didn't like to do it often, but I'm sure you thought of your sister over the past ninety years. And now you know that she thought about you, too, and passed her memories of you onto her children and grandchildren."

"And great-grandchildren, and great-great grandchildren." Edward continued for me. He looked up at me. "But now that we're the ones raising Emma, do you think we could somehow influence her to pick out more original names for her future children? It's not that I don't like my name, but it's a bit over-used in that family."

I laughed. "Don't worry, we have quite a few years to worry about that, still."

"We had better." Edward stated.

Third Person POV

Meanwhile, Renesmee and Emma had opted for the more subtle travel option of walking to La Push, rather than being driven there, which had been offered numerous times by Renesmee's various family members, as the duo walked past the white house. More than half an hour later, they were finally in the homestretch, with just the town on the reservation to walk through still, although Renesmee was the only one still walking. Emma had long since given up, and was now comfortably being carried on Renesmee's back. Surprisingly to Renesmee, they were still walking alone. She supposed the pack hadn't yet caught whiff of the returned vampires. And, oblivious to the fact that the sole threat to their existence had moved back into the area, the werewolves probably weren't running as many patrols as they had before.

"Are you sure she's going to like me?" Emma asked Renesmee for what certainly wasn't the first time on their little journey.

"Of course she will." Renesmee said confidently. "Claire is a very nice girl. And she's only just a little bit older than you; I think she's eight now."

"I'm going to be seven soon, you know." Emma informed Renesmee.

"Are you really?" Renesmee asked. "When?"

"Um…" Emma thought about it for a moment. "In another year, still."

Renesmee laughed. "You're right, that's not long at all."

"Are we there yet?" Emma asked, again not for the first time that day.

"Almost." Renesmee answered, yet again.

"You know," Emma said, sounding very mature for her age, "I think that the next time we have to go to your boyfriend's house to visit him, we should really have someone drive us there. It's way too far to walk."

"I'm still walking, aren't I?" Renesmee asked the little girl. "I haven't fallen over yet from exhaustion. And I didn't hear you complaining once I started carrying you, did I?"

Emma just giggled softly behind Renesmee's ear. As she did so, Renesmee suddenly stopped.

"Here we are." She announced, nodding at the small house before them; the home of Billy and Jacob Black.

"Is your boyfriend very short?" Emma asked, looking at the house before them.

"Nope, not at all." Renesmee replied. "And how many times do I have to tell you that he's not my boyfriend?"

"But he just has to be your boyfriend." Emma said, as if this was obvious.

"Why is that?" Renesmee wanted to know, as she made her way up to the front porch, Emma still light as a feather upon her back.

"Because he just has to be." Emma said as way of an answer.

Renesmee just shook her head slightly and, clutching the young girl to her back with just one hand, reached her other hand out and knocked on the wooden door.

"Coming!" The familiar voice of Billy Black called from within.

Without having to strain her ears, Renesmee heard the wheels of his wheelchair rolling quickly in the direction of the front door a moment later. It must have been a commercial break from whatever game he was watching.

The door was pulled open almost immediately, and Billy first looked shocked to see Renesmee standing on his front porch. His initial look of shock was quickly replaced with one of overall joy, however, as a wide grin broke out across his features.

"Hey Billy." Renesmee said with an answering smile. "Is Jacob around?"

"He went down to the beach with Quil and Claire." Billy replied. "But Paul and Rachel are out back if you want me to have Paul give him call?"

"No, that's okay." Renesmee replied. "We can just head down there."

At the word 'we' Billy's eyebrows rose. Renesmee turned slightly so that Emma was more visible, clinging as she was, to Renesmee's back.

"This is my cousin, Emma, Billy." Renesmee explained. "She lives with us now."

"Does she, really?" Billy asked, eyebrows still raised. "Your cousin, you said?"

Renesmee gave him a knowing look. "You know she's too young; it's against the rules. Her mother was Momma's cousin." She paused, unsure if she should continue with Emma right there. The decision was taken out of her hands, however, when Emma continued for her.

"My mommy and daddy died." She informed Billy. "So now Renesmee is my big sister and I live with her and her mommy and daddy."

"Oh, I see." Billy said. The sound of whistles could be heard in the background of the house, coming from the television, no doubt. Billy's gaze seemed to unwillingly wander in that direction.

Renesmee smiled. "We'll let you get back to your game, Billy." She said. "We'll go down to the beach to find Jacob, but I'm sure we'll see you later."

"Bye Billy!" Emma called out, waving a small hand in goodbye as Renesmee turned and walked back down the porch.

Billy waved back before turning his wheelchair around and quickly wheeling himself back to his t.v. set.

Renesmee made short work of walking down to beach, cutting through behind the Black home to say hello to Rachel and Paul, who grinned conspiratorially at her.

"Don't worry!" He called after Renesmee as she continued walking. "I promise to stay put until you find him!"

Once they reached the main beach, they found it rather crowded with tourists taking advantage of the rare sunny day in the Olympic Peninsula.

"It's going to take forever to find your boyfriend, isn't it?" Emma asked wearily, sounding very much as if riding on Renesmee's back for the past half-hour had greatly tired her out.

Renesmee chuckled slightly. "I'll tell you what, Emma, I'm going to make you a little deal."

"About what?" Emma asked, as Renesmee set off down the beach.

"If Jacob ever does become my boyfriend, which I'm really doubting is ever going to happen," Renesmee began, "Then I'll give you five dollars."

"Five whole dollars?" Emma asked. Renesmee knew without looking that her eyes would be wide with excitement. "All for me?"

"Yep."

"O.K." Emma agreed happily. She squirmed on Renesmee's back. "Can I get down? I wanna run. Being carried everywhere is boring."

Renesmee set the little girl down, and no sooner had her feet touched the sand, then she was off. Renesmee easily kept up with her as she made her way to a less crowded part of the beach. No sooner had she looked away for just a moment, to see if Jacob, Quil, or Claire were down here, then Renesmee heard sudden cry of pain that she quickly identified as Emma's. She looked ahead of herself a few feet, to see Emma splayed on the ground as if she had run into something. Quickly, Renesmee ran over to the little girl.

"You're okay, Emma." Renesmee said swiftly, kneeling down and pulling Emma into her lap. She brushed some of the sand off of her legs. "You're going to be just fine, but what happened to you?"

"I ran into him." Emma said, sounding slightly cross.

"Who?" Renesmee asked.

Emma pointed in front of them, and Renesmee looked up to meet a warm pair of dark eyes, set in a familiar face.

"Jacob." She said.