Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or any related characters. I do own Kaya and her Native American mystic powers.

A/N: Due to underwhelming opinion Edward is safe. For now. I won't kill him but I might maim him a bit. Just remember a happy writer is a writer who gets review. And a happy writer doesn't maim or kill beloved characters. At least not anymore than I already have. And thanks again to all that do review. It does mean a lot.

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The flight to New York went pretty smoothly. Jasper didn't breathe the entire flight so he was nice and quite. Tink and Vamp-boy spent the trip talking and playing with Nessie. Alice's idea of playing with her, however, was measuring and recording almost every conceivable dimension on the kid. She then called some designer or other in New York and gave them all the measurement. Nessie wasn't that big of a fan of the measuring but she lit up like the sun when Alice showed her pictures of the dresses she ordered for her. I wondered if Bella liked playing dress up as a kid, 'cause she sure as hell didn't now.

I couldn't believe where my life had taken me. A little over two years ago I was just an average fourteen year-old who thought his whole life would be spent working some dead-end job on the Rez with a wife and a bunch of kids. With the exception of maybe getting my own garage I didn't really have any hopes or dreams. I had just settled on having a nice, simple boring life. If I only knew how beyond my reach that was going to be I wouldn't have dreaded it so much.

My life is so full of weirdness that boring would be a welcomed change. Sure I was currently in one of the most famous cities in the world and have been to two foreign countries in a few weeks time. Hell, I was soon going to be on my way to Europe, flying first class no less. To most people that would be living the high life and I should just cowboy up and enjoy it, but they don't the know price I paid. It cost me my best friend.

I sat looking out into Central Park from the Tavern on the Green, my Black Linguine getting cold in front of me. I couldn't get Bella out of my mind. I had promised her that I would always be there for her but I wasn't and now she was missing, possibly dead. I knew it wasn't my fault, she had sent me away to protect the most precious thing in her life: her daughter,

But I still should have been there for her. I had a duty to protect her as well as Renesme.

Nessie's laugh brought me out of my stupor. Jasper was doing some sleight of hand with a cherry tomato and she was getting a kick out of it. Bat-boy seemed to be enjoying it as well. God, I hated that little prick.

We finished dinner and decided to take a walk through the park. Ten O'clock at night wasn't the best time to be going out for a stroll in Central Park, but we had a feeling that we'd be more than a match for any predator that would be roaming the park at night. We were the top of the food chain as it were.

The Sheep's Meadow was a great place for us to stretch our legs and the vamps to snag some small game to tide them over until they went hunting when Big Boy and Blondie got here. I tried to enjoy myself but I couldn't

Suddenly the hair on the back of my neck stood on end. I stopped in my tracks and turned to face whatever was behind me.

But when I did I was no longer in Central Park. I was on the top of the cliffs at first beach looking out over the ocean.

"This is a beautiful land. I can see why your people chose to call this place home."

I spun around to see Kaya standing behind me. She wore a blue corn peasant dress with a red shawl over her shoulders. "Am I dreaming?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. Are you asleep? You usually need to be asleep to dream. Or so I've been told."

Pinching the bridge of my nose and closing my eyes I slowly shook my head. "This can't be real. I must be having a breakdown or something. You just don't pop from one side of the freakin' country to the other in a heartbeat. It's impossible."

Kaya let out a deep but musical laugh. "So says the werewolf who is the guardian of a half-vampire, half-human child. You of all people should know there is no such thing as impossible, Jacob Black."

She had a point there. I have seen enough weird shit to know that anything is possible. "Ok, let's say that this isn't a dream. What do you want from me?"

"I want nothing from you, child. I have brought you here to offer you a gift." She made a sweeping gesture to the beach. "Look carefully and tell me what you see."

There was a man and a woman walking along the beach. The woman's arm wrapped around the man's waist, his arm draped across her shoulder, pulling her closer to him. Her left arm rested on her baby bump and a small diamond wedding ring shone on her finger.

"It's me and Bella. What is this?"

"This is the life that you could have had, child. In this life you stopped Bella from jumping from the cliffs and Edward never returned. His family, however, does return with news of him but she chooses to stay with you instead of going to him.

"I can send you back to the fateful day, to that spot. The course of your life will change into the one that I have just described."

What had been my heart's deepest desire for two years was just offered up to me on a silver freakin' platter. Bella and me, married with a child on the way. It was heaven.

But is that what I really wanted now?

"There is another path you can take." Don't tell me she reads minds too. That's all my life needs, another bloodsucking mind reader.

"Look back upon the beach, child."

It was almost the same scene, a pregnant woman and man walking along the beach. The man was of course me but even though the woman looked familiar I couldn't tell who it was. Then I saw the face. My heart started thumping in my chest. It was Nessie.

"In this life all the trials and tribulations you would face in the coming years are over. They would be but a faint half remembered dream to everyone since none of you would have lived through them. Unfortunatly, Renesmee's parents would not be a part of your life. Beyond this point only the normal minor bumps that one faces in life. All of your struggles would be behind you."

Is this what my life has come down to? Choose between Bella and Nessie? Why couldn't I have both?

"Which path do you choose, Jacob Black?"

"What if I don't choose?

Kaya let out a sigh. "Then you will return to the point in your life that I called you from. You will face many terrible choices. The future I showed you with Renesmee would not be guaranteed if you went back. If you do not pick that road you might not ever end up with her as your bride. You would only be her eternal protector, watching over her as she spent her life with another. Your duty to her would not let you stop phasing to grow old or find a mate of your own. You would spend eternity pining for her.

"But this is just another of many paths the future holds. You must choose, child."

Could I live like that? Could I just sit on the sidelines and watch Nessie with another man? I don't think so.

But could I really take that choice away from her? If what Kaya was saying is true then Nessie isn't as bound to me through the imprint like I am to her. Christ, can my life suck anymore?

"I choose curtain number three, Monty."

The earth suddenly seemed to tilt and I found myself flat on my back looking up into the night sky. But something was off. There didn't seem to be enough stars. And the constellations were shifted to the west. Weird.

The sounds of crying brought me back to reality.

"Jacob, please don't leave me, too!" Nessie's arms were wrapped around my neck and her tears drenched my shirt.

I guess I had fallen asleep after all. Or at least passed out. I patted her head. "Shhh, its ok, honey. You never have to worry about me leaving you."

Jasper and Bat-boy gave me a hand up as I held Nessie tightly to my chest. "You gave us quite a scare, Jacob. Your heartbeat dropped so low we were afraid we would lose you. What happened?"

The look on the little Brazilian turd told me he wouldn't have been too sad if I kicked the bucket. "I'm not sure. I think I had an out of body experience."

They all stared at me like I has suddenly sprouted another head or monkeys were shooting out of my ass. "I thought I was back in La Push. I was up on the cliffs looking out at the ocean."

Tinkerbelle made a motion with her hand to continue after a few seconds of silence. "And…?"

I let out a deep sigh. I really didn't want to get into this but seeing as they were worried I should at least tell them some of it. "And this crazy vampire lady that we met in Mexico City was there and she said that she was offering me a chance to live life without all of this freaky bullshit."

Jasper gave me a look that told me that he knew I was hiding something. Stupid empathic powers. "Does this 'crazy vampire lady' have a name?"

"Yeah, it's Kaya."

Nahuel looked like his eyes were going to shoot out of his head. "Mãe do dues! She is bruxa do demónio. Do not let her near Nessie."

I looked at him suspiciously. Kaya had said that she had never met a hybrid child before. "You've met her before?"

He shook his head. "No, but I have heard the legends. She is an evil woman."

I couldn't help but laugh. "The legends also say that vampires and werewolves are mortal enemies that kill each other on sight, yet, here we are, having a regular freakin' love fest in Central Park."

Rhett Butler and the pixie let out a chuckle. "He does have a point, Nahuel. But this does worry me, Jacob."

Alice stomped her feet and shook her head. "Ooooh, if only I could get a read with all you black holes around me. You three go to the hotel and I'll see if I can get an idea of what's coming up by getting a read on the rest of us."

"Fine by me." I picked up Nessie and bolted towards the hotel. I didn't wait for George of the Jungle but since I didn't phase he caught up to us pretty quick. The little shit.