Disclaimer: I may not own the copyright...but I do own the happyright...(okay..so that was really corny) I don't own Twilight or its characters. But Stephenie Meyer loves us enough to let us play with them. *big grin*

A/N: I apologize for the long wait...you guys still love me right? Well....at least you love Edward and Bella. There's plenty of them here for you!!

Chapter 8

We stopped by the house to pick up Nessie's dress. Alice had it enclosed in a long white garment bag, so I couldn't see how it looked yet. She gave Edward a grave look and I saw him nod solemnly.

I opened my mouth to ask what the big secret was, but Edward silenced me with a kiss. I pulled away. His eyes registered hurt. I hurried to explain myself before he could jump to the wrong conclusions, as he was well known for doing.

"You always think you can have these private conversations and leave me out of it," I complained. He relaxed then, and grinned at me. "All in due time, my Bella. . .all in due time."

I pouted and snatched the dress from him. Alice smothered a giggle and I shot her a withering glare. "You too, Alice. You owe me big time. I swore I would make you pay for those scanty clothes you packed for me a while back. . . if you could even call them clothes…they looked more like strings—don't think I forgot."

She gave me the most angelic smile ever and winked knowingly. "Take your time, Bella—you have all there is in the world."

Dang it! Why did I always lose these types of arguments?

I knew the answer. Because it was Alice and Edward I chose to argue with. Not the brightest choice if I expected to win. I sighed and turned to go out the door. Edward was right behind me.

A few moments later I perked up. There was one argument I hadn't lost—the one that had led me to be here right now. The most consequential of them all. I smiled and hummed to myself as my mood lifted and I skipped off towards the trees.

Edward was beside me, watching me with curiosity burning in his eyes. Would I ever cease to fascinate him? I hoped not.

"Why the sudden euphoria?" he asked with a wry smile.

"No reason," I replied, and skipped off further into the woods. I caught a brief glimpse of the frustrated expression that flashed across his face as I left him behind. But not for long.

In half a millisecond he was behind me, his arms locked around me in a vice grip.

"Bella," he growled.

I knew I could break loose if I wanted to, but I didn't want to.

I laughed. "The good lessons your self denial has taught you seem to be wearing off," I said.

He grinned wickedly. "Maybe my selfish nature is taking over just a bit." His teeth grazed my ear. "Now, will you tell me what you were thinking?"

"Nope."

He sighed in exasperation, but wasn't giving up yet. His teeth moved from my earlobe to my jugular, but they brushed over it so lightly that it made me shudder in delight.

"Now will you tell me?"

I made a valiant effort to control my breathing and failed miserably.

"I would have, but you just erased everything that was in my head," I gasped. I wasn't lying. He could have asked me if I was married to him and I would have said I didn't know. All I knew was that his lips were dangerously close to mine. . .and I had to focus.

Renesmee was waiting back at the house. . .with Jacob. Alone. I felt shock cross my face and before Edward had a chance to ask me what was wrong I stood at the door of the cottage.

I sighed in relief that quickly turned to bewilderment and then suspicion. Jacob was brushing Renesmee's hair? Wow. Hmph. I strode up to him and took the brush silently to continue the job myself. I didn't like the way she was seated between his legs on the ground. It looked as though Edward was on the same wavelength. He was glaring at

Jacob with an expression that didn't look too far off from a death threat. My suspicions were confirmed in the next moment.

"Sheesh, leech. I know. I can't help my thoughts, though, can I?" Jacob snapped.

"I can help you with that," Edward offered. "I'll see to it that no thoughts ever pass through that filthy mind of yours ever again."

I was torn between my shock and disgust at Jacob and my aggrievance with Edward for the death threat. I gave both of them a look and tried to diffuse the sudden tension.

"Jacob, thanks for staying with Renesmee. Alice needs you back at the house now," I lied.

It didn't fool him. He laughed. "Nice try, Bells. But I think I'll head back over to La Push and get ready for the party. My old man's bound to roll over somebody's foot without me around to help him dress."

"Then perhaps you should spend more time with your father instead of being someplace you're not wanted," Edward interjected. I looked up to argue but Renesmee beat me to the punch.

She glared up at Edward and I saw his eyebrows raise slightly in surprise as he listened to whatever she was thinking. "Alright," he conceded reluctantly. "Not entirely unwanted. It seems one person differs in opinion on that subject."

"Two, actually," I corrected him. He frowned, but nodded.

"I'd still rather you spent more time with your. . .biological family," he finished.

Renesmee giggled. He looked at her and smiled. "I could see if I said 'family' that you would object; I know you feel that Jacob is a part of this family."

I sighed. If she only knew how close that relation would be in the near future. I didn't want to think about that right now, though, so I changed the subject. I'd heard something that had caught my attention.

"Billy's coming?" I asked. He hadn't been here since my wedding to Edward over a year ago. I was under the impression that he was disgusted with me since hearing of my conversion.

"Yeah, he didn't wanna miss the first birthday of his future—" Edward silenced him with an icy glare.

Renesmee looked up in confusion and pressed her hand to my cheek to send me an accompanying image. The scene that had just passed replayed in my head, but from a different viewpoint, this time with me included in the view. I just shook my head at her and smiled. She shrugged and turned away, but I could see her forehead wrinkle in contemplation and knew she wasn't going to let it go. She just wouldn't say any more about it now.

"Just like your mother," Edward muttered. I smothered a giggle.

************

After Jacob left, Edward called Emmett on his cell phone and asked him to come over and keep an eye on Nessie until we returned. She wrinkled her nose and frowned up at him. I chuckled.

"I'll be fine by myself."

"I can imagine you will, Nessie, but I'm not taking any chances," Edward said calmly.

"But Emmett's gonna bother me," she protested.

He smiled down at her with what I imagined to be a condescending look. I wasn't too far off base.

"Stop looking at me so condescendingly. It's not nice," Nessie said, ducking her head in a pout. I burst out laughing. She glared up at me indignantly. "And it's not FUNNY either!"

I couldn't stop laughing. Edward looked pleased as we heard a tree crack in the distance and Emmett bounded into the clearing and swept Renesmee off her feet. He dangled her by one leg in the air. We heard the distinct sound of stone hitting stone and an "oomph" as Emmett doubled over. Renesmee used the opportunity of distraction to skip nimbly away and out of his reach. Edward gave Emmett a look that would have burned through anything but vampire skin.

Emmett grinned when he caught Edward's stare.

"Me and the lil crossbreed munchkin are just having a bit of fun," he said in his defense.

"Right Nessie?" She looked up at him and smiled brilliantly. The sunlight that broke through the cloud cover sparkled off her perfect, white teeth and glinted ever so slightly across her skin.

"You can go now, Daddy," she said. "Emmett won't let anything happen to me." I thought I caught a hint of sarcasm in her tone, and I smiled at her. My smile stretched into a grin as I saw Edward's brow furrow and then wrinkle in frustration.

"Just like your mother," he grumbled. We turned and dashed off into the forest to hunt.

**************

Half an hour later, my thirst sated but my mind not sufficiently distracted, we ran back to the cottage. I immediately began to fret what sort of dress Alice had picked out for Nessie. She was only about seven years old in physical appearance, and Alice wasn't exactly known for tact when it came to what someone ought to wear according to their age. I let my imagination run away with me as I walked towards the front door. Edward noted my expression and kissed me lightly on my forehead.

"Don't worry about it, Bella," he reassured me. "Alice wouldn't dare cross you when it comes to Renesmee."

"I'm counting on that," I said shakily. He smiled and turned to disappear into the trees. I took a deep breath and opened the door.

Renesmee lay on the floor, a paper in front of her and a box of colored pencils off to her right. Emmett sat silently—for once—and stared intently down at her creation, chin on his fist. Curious, I slid closer for a better look. What I saw took my breath away.

A wrought iron bird cage hung in the corner of a room—her room—next to a standing lamp with a soft pink glow emanating from it. The cage was delicately designed with bars curving up like twisted vines to meet in a delicate iron rose at the top. The door to it was open, and my eyes roved over the rest of the picture to see where the missing character was. In the middle of the page sat Renesmee, her bronze curls just as vivid on the paper as here in front of me. Her head was bent and in one of her small hands she held her sparrow. The other hand held out a fistful of seeds for it to peck at. I marveled at the detail that was visible in the picture. The intricateness of the wing curvature; one glance and one could see how fragile the bird was. The girl in the picture was the spitting image of Nessie.

"It's beautiful," I whispered.

She looked up at me and smiled. "Thanks, Mommy."

Putting away her coloring utensils and placing the paper on the dining room table, she sprang lightly up to me, looking for all the world like she was dancing. "Can I get dressed now?" she asked. "It's almost two o'clock."

I managed to hide my grimace. "Of course, Nessie, that's what I came back for. Come on, let's go see your dress."

"Yay!" Renesmee clapped. "I hope it's pink!"

Emmett took that as his cue to leave. With a gallant bow and sweep of an imaginary hat, he backed out the door and flew down the steps and into the woods.

We headed for her room and I held my breath as I waited outside the door for her to go and retrieve the garment bag that held the potential for all my worst fears to come to fruition. In actuality I held my breath because I didn't yet trust myself around her new pet. Even though I had just returned from a hunt, I didn't want to risk making any mistakes. The last thing I needed was to ruin her first birthday by having her very first pet for lunch.

Renesmee came out of her room then, interrupting my contemplations. She held up the white bag, her eyes glowing in excitement. I sighed and led the way to my room. She followed eagerly. I took the bag from her and unzipped it as she slid out of her bright pink jumper outfit.

I held the dress up and began to wonder if Alice had truly lost it. Those werewolves must really have been getting to her. Poor Alice. Or, this couldn't be designed by her. . .could it? I thought back to the prom in my junior year in high school. Alice had worn a black dress with geometrical cutout shapes baring most of her pale skin. At the graduation party it had been red leather pants. . .for crying out loud, when I woke up after my conversion I was wearing stilettos and a silk dress to hunt in… this couldn't possibly be the work of the Alice I knew.

The dress I held in my hands was a soft pink color, light and airy. It was strapless, but a thin pink cardigan took care of that. The body reached just below the knees, and a shiny satin bow accented the waist. A sheer lace dotted with pink polka dots hung over the outside of the dress, flaring out slightly just underneath the hemline.

Renesmee gasped.

I was getting to that part. I needed to remember how to breathe in before I could actually perform the function of gasping. Clasping her hands together, Renesmee took two tiny steps forward. She reached out slowly towards the dress.

"Mommy. . .its… so….beautiful," she whispered.

"I know," I whispered too. I slid it off the hanger and gave it to her. She slipped it over her head.

Right as if on cue, the doorbell rang. But before I could think to move to answer it, Rosalie stood in the doorway.

Rosalie had always been and would always be the most stunning out of us all. But she had outdone even herself for today's party. She shone radiantly in a mid-thigh length leopard print dress with black spaghetti straps; the waist embellished with a stunning black mesh bow. What was with Alice and the bows this week? The glossy material clung to her frame and accented every curve of her flawless body perfectly. I couldn't help but gawk for a moment.

"Alice sent me over with some things for you," she said, stepping fluidly into the room in her black stilettos. I regained my composure quickly and thanked her, taking the pink ballet slippers and the second garment bag she held in her hand. She turned to Renesmee.

"Nessie, darling, I'm going to fix your hair for you. Would you like it curled up or straight?"

Renesmee pondered this for a moment. "I'd like it straight, please," she said. "I want to look like Mommy." My heart swelled with pride. My little girl wanted to look like me. Plain, little old, nobody-special-until-recently, me. I choked up a bit.

Rosalie swept out of the room with Nessie at her heels. I turned to open the other garment bag and found my blue chiffon dress inside. Taking it out, I smiled to myself as I admired it again; the blue folds flowing softly over each other. I heard the faint rustling sound it made as the material brushed against itself. Slipping the dress over my head, I smoothed it out and sighed as I headed towards my closet in search of the blue heels Alice had so graciously adorned me with the first day I awoke as a vampire.

Standing in the giant closet, I scanned the hundreds of shoeboxes quickly, searching for the word blue. I was just beginning to think that maybe I didn't have them anymore when my eyes fell on the sketch of the heels I was looking for on the bottom shoebox to the right. Great. It had at least twelve boxes stacked on top of it. It would be just my luck to have it all come tumbling down on top of me. I gauged the distance and mentally calculated the speed I would have to pull the box out with to prevent the pending catastrophe. Taking a deep breath, I swiftly shot my hand out and snatched the box. There was a faint clunk, and all the other boxes shifted one space down. I looked down. The box

I needed was there in my hand. A triumphant grin stretched across my face, and with renewed courage I tore the lid off the box and slid into the stiletto heels. Maybe I would be able to walk in these after all.

I went back to my bedroom to fix my hair and heard the unmistakable sounds of a blow-dryer running coming from the bathroom. Okay, so I would have to wait. Rosalie was using it, and I decided to go have a look at the progress that was being made in the makeshift salon. But as soon as I reached the door, it slammed in my face. I stopped, taken aback and not a little bit offended. But Rosalie's musical voice carried through the door effortlessly and had some amusement in it, so my anger abated. Just a little.

"Not yet, Bella," she said. "You can't see the masterpiece until it's completed. It would be a crime."

I sulked off to wait in my room.

Ten minutes later, I heard the bathroom door open and the click of heels on the wooden floor. I could also hear Renesmee's soft, muted footsteps as she walked alongside Rosalie, but judging from the sound of it she must have been a few centimeters behind her.

I was looking up expectantly, but all my imaginings had not prepared me for the brunette beauty that met my eyes. If she had been more beautiful than Edward when she was born, she was now more beautiful than Rosalie. Her naturally curly reddish brown hair was impeccably straight, and hung past her knees. The front section of her hair was swept up around her crown, and formed a smooth, loose bun nearly at the back of her head. A few stray sections of hair had been pulled down to frame her slim face. I gasped.

Renesmee blushed. "Mommy, you're embarrassing me. Don't stare at me like that," she said shyly.

"You look beautiful," I told her. Rosalie smiled smugly.

"Of course she does. Now it's your turn. Hurry, I know your hair takes twice as long even though it's only half the length of hers."

I was glad that the shared experience of fighting to save Renesmee had eased some of the ill will she'd harbored towards me ever since before we'd even met. It didn't make me any more eager to play Barbie, though. I held true to form and marched off to the bathroom with a martyred expression. Nessie giggled from behind me.

Rosalie stretched the cord of the blow-dryer and adjusted it to a slightly higher heat setting. She picked up a rounded brush and began blowing out my hair, dragging the brush swiftly through my tangled tresses. I took note of the fact that it probably would have hurt like all heck if I was still human, and gratefully breathed a silent thanks for the fact that this was one more aspect of humanity that I would not miss. I had always been terribly tender-headed. I used to give Renee the time of her life when she had to comb my hair, running this way and that to avoid it. Once I even buried the hairbrush in the backyard, but needless to say I got in a truckload of trouble once she found out.

Rosalie had been wrong about my hair. In about five minutes she was done, and was rolling curlers through my hair. I grumbled a bit, not really wanting to sit still the amount of time it would take for the curlers to set. She smacked my head with the comb she had been using to part my hair, and three of the teeth broke off and fell to the floor when it hit my forehead. Rose sucked her teeth and growled under her breath.

"Now look what you did," she hissed. "Hold still while I get another one." She stalked off to my room and I heard her rummaging around in my dresser for another comb. In three seconds she was back.

She finished putting the curlers in my hair and left again to get the clips she would use. I passed the few moments wondering idly what Edward had chosen to get Nessie for her birthday. Knowing him, it would probably be something big. I sincerely hoped it wasn't a car. I made up my mind that if anyone tried to pull that, I wouldn't speak to them for a year. No, make that a decade. Right.

Rosalie was back before I had much of a chance to think of anything else. She removed the curlers from my hair expertly and let my locks fall down in cascading waves down my back. Taking the blue sapphire hairpin my mother had given me on my wedding day, she pushed it into my hair above my right ear, pulling back a portion. Dark curls framed the other side of my face.

"Are you done now?" I asked, not wanting to look up at her. I didn't want to effectively squash what little self confidence I had built up over the past few minutes.

She laughed. "Yes. You are impatient, Bella. You haven't changed a bit since you were human."

I smiled at that. "I'm glad," I said. "I was always worried that I wouldn't be the same Bella anymore."

"Don't you worry," she looked at me with an expression so tender—was it really Rosalie who just looked at me like that? She must have forgiven me even more than I'd thought for wanting to be a vampire. "There's nothing that can take away that Bella that you are."

I smiled gratefully, and rose. Together we walked out the door and down the hall to Renesmee's room. She was standing in the door waiting for us and silently glided out and took my hand. We walked out the door and down the steps carefully, not mussing up our fancy shoes, and headed towards the big white house in the clearing.

A/N: Guys, I just recently figured out how to track the traffic on my story...and discovered I have over two hundred readers. WOW. You guys are amazing. However..........*twiddles fingers and bats eyelashes* I only have thirteen reviews so far. Now, don't you think we can do better than that?

*readers nod heads*

Great!! So I'd really, really, REALLY appreciate if everyone who reads this chapter could just leave a little note saying they were here and what they think of the story...it would make my day!

Pwetty pwease?? With...Edward Cullen on top?? I know you all can't resist that....

Love, Cahryn K.