DISCLAIMER: I own nothing. Stephenie Meyer owns it all.
CHAPTER 7
"Grandpa, why do they call them egg noodles?"
"I don't know, honey. I just know that you're supposed to eat them with Swedish meatballs. It's the law."
"No, it's not!" Nessie cackled as she stood on the step stool next to her grandfather, watching over his shoulder as he plated up their latest culinary collaboration.
"It is in Sweden. I called up the Swedish police and they confirmed it for me. "
"No, they didn't!"
"Are you sure? Your grandpa has some friends in high places. Now go sit down."
Nessie hurried down onto the ground, pushed the stool to its space next to the broom closet and took her seat at the table. She took her napkin and placed it on her lap. Charlie Swan, with much ceremony, placed dinner in front of his granddaughter before taking his own seat.
This evening's dinner was inspired by the IKEA catalog that had come in the mail. Nessie was fascinated by the names of the products and laughed maniacally when her Uncle Jasper pronounced them all for her: Flardfull, Knutstorp, Odmjuk. From that moment, Swedish was added to the list of things Nessie wanted to learn. Alice even started to think about the ideal time to take a field trip to Stockholm. Planning that one would be tricky with their long stretches of daylight. It would have to wait for the deep winter when they had twenty-four hours of darkness.
In fact, Alice was calling Charlie's cell phone now. He sent the call to voicemail as he wanted to enjoy dinner with his granddaughter. A meth lab explosion on the outskirts of Forks was a nightmare for the police department and that meant spending more time than he would like away from his family.
"How was ballet?" asked Charlie as he started digging in to his dinner. It wasn't bad at all.
"Good. Miss Jenny said that I have the best posture in the class."
"Is that so?"
"Yeah. I think I want to take tap too, but Aunt Alice said I need to learn to be a little more gentle because sometimes I pretend to do tap at Grandpa Carlisle's house and I dent the floor. I hope I get better at it though because Miss Keisha teaches tap and she seems really nice." Nessie took a forkful and swallowed it. "This is really good, Grandpa."
"Well, don't forget to chew. We're not in a rush, okay? And make sure you drink your milk."
The doorbell rang and was then followed by panicked banging. Both sets of eyes went to the door.
"Who is that?"
"My guess is Aunt Alice." Charlie heaved himself up from the table and made his way to the door. The banging became more frantic. "Okay, okay, I'm coming, Alice. Calm down."
"Charlie, open up. It's me."
Charlie stopped in his tracks and sighed. "Oh shit."
"That's not Aunt Alice." Renesmee was out of her seat and standing in the doorway leading from the kitchen to the hall."
"Sweetheart, go upstairs and stay in your room. Shut the door and don't make a sound. Now." Charlie instantly regretted his tone because Renesmee's face had a look of terror, but he had to give her credit. Instead of freezing, she flew up the stairs right away.
"I know you're in there Charlie! Let me in!"
Charlie swung the front door open. "Renee."
"It's about time," his ex-wife said bitterly as she rushed in. "It's pouring out there. Were you just going to let me get soaked?"
"What are you doing here?" Charlie closed the front door and folded his arms.
"Well, you won't answer your cell phone and you're supposedly out on a call every time I try to reach you at the station."
"I am the chief of police."
"In Forks. Like anything ever happens here. You do remember that is one of the reasons that I left, right? This rain certainly doesn't help." She was taking off her jacket and shaking out her hair.
"That brings me back to my original question: what are you doing here?"
"I'm looking for my daughter who seems to have fallen off the face of the earth after her honeymoon. I've left messages, but now it says her mailbox is full. And now so is my son-in-law's. I get sporadic emails from her saying everything at school is fine with no real detail. I've called the Cullen house, but no one is ever there. Alice answered once when she was home visiting her parents for the weekend. Apparently she talks to Bella all the time and Bella has even flown back to Forks to visit everyone in Forks, but nothing when it comes to her mother? Something is not right. I went by the Cullen house, but no one was home. Do you know why she's avoiding me? Have you spoken to her? To Edward?"
"Renee, she's a grown woman, married with a husband now. I'm sure you remember how those first few months of marriage were. She and Edward are probably so wrapped up in each other that they forget there's a whole other world outside."
"Not my daughter. We have a connection. We've always been there for each other."
"I remember why she came to live with me in the first place. Do you?"
"What are you implying? What are you hiding?" Renee tilted her head, looking at Charlie with suspicion.
"I seem to remember a woman so consumed with her new husband that Bella was made to feel like a third wheel. You put so much on my daughter's shoulders while you went off and got your kicks. Without a care for her." Charlie slowly moved toward Renee, his voice getting louder and his breathing becoming ragged. "Things with Phil must have gone south. Now you care about Bella. Well, I know better than anyone the drama and misery that you heap upon everyone in her path and I will NOT let you do that to Nessie!"
Renee looked at him as if he were speaking another language. "Who the hell is Nessie?"
Charlie closed his eyes, willing the universe to allow him to take that moment back. He should have picked up the phone when Alice called. He was sooooo going to hear about it later.
Where would he start? What lie should he tell? Then a thought struck him. Renee was crazy enough that it might just work.
"Nessie is my granddaughter," he said finally.
"Oh really? Did you have a child before we got married whom you never told me about?"
He looked Renee in the eye. "She's yours too."
"So would mean that Bella got pregnant as soon as she got to Forks. Let me guess, that's why Edward fled. He didn't want the responsibility of being a teenage father. So why wasn't this Nessie at the wedding?"
"Edward loved that little girl more than anything."
"Loved?" Renee shook her head in confusion.
"Bella was not a young unwed mother. She became pregnant after the wedding. On the honeymoon actually."
Renee chuckled. "A honeymoon baby? Oh, Charlie, how can you be the chief of police and fall for that one? It's the oldest one in the book."
"I am telling you Bella and Edward had a baby girl after the wedding. However, she's not a baby anymore."
"And how old is this Nessie exactly?"
Charlie sighed. "She's about a year old, but she looks about five."
"You say I'm the one that's crazy, but you expect me to believe that?"
"No, but I can show you," said Nessie in a quiet voice as she stood at the bottom of the stairs.
"Nessie, darlin', come here and meet your Grandma Renee." Charlie held out his hand.
Nessie look at Renee with curiosity as she crossed the room to the safety of her grandfather's arms. Renee, on the other hand, look bewildered and a little dumbfounded.
"Those eyes…" Renee was transfixed.
"Yup. They belong to Bella and so does she."
"How?" Renee clumsily sat down on the couch, holding the armrest for dear life.
"Ness, why don't you show your grandmother everything?" The little girl looked up at him for confirmation and he nodded. "Ness is going to put her hand and your cheek, Renee. Don't flinch."
Renesmee slowly moved closer to Renee. "May I?"
"Of course," said her grandmother as she studied the girl's familiar features.
With her hand on Renee's cheek, Renesmee began her tale. Renee started at the images, but quickly became mesmerized as the story unfolded. Her brow furrowed at some part of the story and she grabbed Nessie's arm, gently pulling it away. Tears streamed down her face as she looked up at Charlie. "Bella's dead?"
"Mommy and Daddy. Grandpa Carlisle and Grandma Esme. Uncle Emmett and Aunt Rose."
Renee screamed in agony. "My daughter's dead! She's gone! You didn't think to tell me?"
Charlie's voice was thick with emotion. "I couldn't bring myself to do it. I don't want to believe it. Would you have believed me given the circumstances?"
Renee took Renesmee into her arms as she sobbed.
"I'm sorry," said Charlie, sitting down next to her on the sofa. "I didn't know. I couldn't…"
Words were insufficient. There was nothing he could say to take Renee's pain away. If he didn't have his granddaughter…
The three were huddled together on the sofa as Renee came to terms with her daughter's death.
"Do you like Swedish meatballs?" asked Renesmee after a while.
"What?" asked Renee as she wiped her tears away.
"Grandpa and I, well mostly Grandpa, made Swedish meatballs for dinner. Are you hungry? They'll have to be warmed up though."
"I do like them." Renee rubbed her hand up and down Renesmee's arm.
"Good. There are cupcakes for dessert too. Grandpa didn't make those though. Aunt Alice and I did."
"Where is Alice?" Renee pulled herself the together the best she could.
"She and Uncle Jasper went hunting."
"Alice saw you coming and tried to call. She's probably on her way back." Charlie stood up.
"That's right." Renee nodded, unseeingly. "She sees the future. That's what Nessie said. Or showed me rather."
"Actually, my name's Renesmee. It's Renee and Esme mixed together," Nessie told her grandmother proudly.
"Huh. I guess it is."
"Come into the kitchen. We can eat dinner and then I can show you my room." Renesmee took Renee's hand and helped her up.
Renee held on tightly to this last piece of her Bella.
The guard walked down the modern corridor and went through a side door that led to an ancient staircase. He descended several floors beneath the castle. Torches placed on the damp stone walls lit his way through the winding dungeons that had held captives for thousands of years. Finally, he arrived at a large block that was being watched over by two guards.
"Aro wants an update," stated the guard.
"All the prisoners are here and accounted for. They've fed, but not enough." The second guard grinned.
"Good. And Cassian?"
The second guard looked over at another vampire sitting in a glass cell a few feet away. "He's doing as instructed."
Electricity crackled through the air.
