The Full Moon

Year Two, Chapter Ten

The Goodbye Party

Renesmee's Point of View

It was Tuesday, September 11, 2007 and today was my first official birthday. I was only going to have seven of them so I intended to make the most of each one. Grampy Charlie was suppose to be coming over around 6pm along with whomever else Aunt Alice invited. I knew she had a giant party planned but that was all the details I received from her. We were moving tomorrow so the party wasn't just a celebration for my birthday. It was doubling as a going away party for Jacob, a chance to say goodbye to his family and Pack.

Jacob was currently in La Push. He wanted to spend the day there . . . alone. His plan was to visit some of his favorite spots: the beach, his old school, the Community Center, Emily's house where Sam's Pack would hang out, his makeshift auto-garage, and a few other spots that were special to him. I didn't like my Jacob being away from me for so long, but if he needed time to say goodbye to his old home today, before he said goodbye to his friends and family tonight then I wouldn't try and stop him. And it gave me an idea.

I asked him if he could pick up a seashell from First Beach for me while he was there.

He would be coming to the party later with his father, Paul, and Rachel. Paul could have more easily driven Rachel and Billy over in his car without all of the fuss, but Aunt Alice had insisted that Jacob pick them up in his Rabbit. And everyone, even the Werewolves, knew not to go against her. But this meant Jacob would have to drive them all back home when the party was over. I had a feeling she was up to something. But what?

Just before 6pm the guests started arriving. Jacob's four Pack members all came up the stairs and into the living room together. They probably all ran here in Wolf form. Quil didn't bring Claire, like I hoped he would, but my party would run late and she was only four years old. I would have liked to have seen her one last time, while I was still young looking, not being sure when the next time we would be back would be. It didn't make that much of a difference to me, but it would to her.

"Hey Nessie, Happy Birthday," Seth ran right over and picked me up into a great big hug.

"Thanks, Seth. Did you see or hear from Jacob on your way over? He was suppose to pick up his family and come over."

"Yeah, they're right behind us. It'll take them a little longer to get here, since they're driving."

"Hey, where's my little girl?" I heard Grampy Charlie yell from the front door.

"I'm upstairs, dad," my mother called to him. "Come on up, we're in the living room."

Well most of us were in the living room. Leah, Embry, and Quil all migrated out to the back porch pretty quickly. It must have been hard for them being here with my families too-sweet Vampire smell everywhere. They had not gotten used to it, like Jacob had. My family probably were grateful for their current location as well.

"Excuse me Seth, I'm going to go find Grampy Charlie."

I quickly bounced away, but before I found him, Sam and Emily arrived with some of the younger Wolves they had given a ride to. I didn't know all of their names, Billy had introduced me to the Wolves during my initiation, not the other way around. Occasionally one of them would babysit me in La Push but they never seemed too friendly, mostly keeping to themselves, and never talking to me. I didn't mind, though. I wasn't there to talk to them, I was in La Push to be with my Jacob, enjoy my childhood, and give Jacob some time with Billy and Rachel.

A few more of Sam's Pack trickled in, and some even brought their Imprints. It was nice to have more girls with all of the Wolves here.

I received Happy Birthday wishes from everyone as they came in but I kept looking at the door as the time got later and later. Jacob still had not arrived.

"Hey, there's my granddaughter. Happy birthday Nessie." We had briefly said hello to each other soon after he first arrived, but I had quickly gotten pulled away by Aunt Alice, claiming I needed to properly greet my other guests.

"Hi Grampy."

"I can't believe it's your first birthday. You're getting to be such a pretty young lady." He looked a little unsettled. Today was an extra reminder, to him, that even though I looked like a six year old, I had only been alive for one year. He was still on his "need to know" policy. I wonder, if he ending up marrying Sue, if she would she let him in on the whole Vampire/Werewolf secret?

"Mom finally let you go I see. I've been trying to say Hi to you all night, but between her hogging you and Aunt Alice with me, not to mention everyone's birthday wishes, I kept missing you."

"Well you have me now."

Grampy Charlie and I chatted for awhile. It was nice seeing him one last time before we left, even knowing it wouldn't be the last time I ever got to see him. It didn't really feel like goodbye to me, not like how my mother was acting like it was.

Finally, almost two hours after the party began Billy, Paul, Rachel and my Jacob arrived. What took them so long? Seth said they were right behind him. Maybe Jacob just wanted some alone time with Billy. It had just been the two of them for years before Rachel moved back home and Jacob came to live with me.

"Nessie, time for cake," Aunt Alice chimed from somewhere. Yuck! I still didn't like human food, preferring blood. And cake was one of my least favorite. I never could get used to the flavor of it. Or cookies; or pastries, all baked goods, really. It was just so unnatural, full of artificial sweeteners, dyes, chemicals. Most processed foods really, no matter how healthy companies tried to make their prepackaged boxes sound, chemicals were still chemicals, no matter whether you dress them up as essential vitamins and minerals, or not. The result was so far from its original form, it likewise also tasted fake. Don't get me wrong, I did like sugary foods. Just naturally occurring sugar, like in fruit. Strawberries were my favorite.

Hearing Alice, all of the Wolves, that had spent most of the night on the back porch, magically reappeared inside. I bet they would devour the entire massive cake before the night was done, saving me from having to eat it later.

My mother and I blew out the candles, since we were pretending it was her birthday party too, for Grampy Charlie's sake, anyway.

My mother's mother and her husband, Nana Renée and Phil, even mailed her a present, a new jacket for the cold Washington winters. We all had a good laugh when she opened it earlier. I'm sure one of the Imprints wouldn't mind taking it for her, or else we could donate it with all of the rest of the clothes we got rid of every month. Alice really needed to cut back on the shopping and let my family wear clothes more than once or twice. It seemed very wasteful. I couldn't do that yet though, myself. I was growing so fast I had to wear new larger sized clothes pretty much every couple of weeks as I grew out of them.

As I was preparing to endure my first bite of cake I spotted Huilen and Nahuel clinging to the far corner of the room. I hadn't talked to them all night long. In fact I really hadn't spent much time with them at all since their arrival. I probably should once we were all set up in the new house. Most of my family will be in High School during the day so it will just be Grandma Esme, them, and myself. That would be plenty of time. They seemed a little out of place but I did see Nahuel had a piece of cake. He took a bite at the same time I did. From the look on his face it seemed he liked it about as much as I did. He spit it into a napkin before abandoning it and his plate behind a plant. I wished I could do that.

I should go over and at least say thank you to them for coming to the party. That was why they came all the way to Washington, after all.

"Alright everyone, can we all gather around so Nessie can open her birthday presents," my mother called over the crowd.

Too late. I guess I'll have to talk to them later.

My family gave me some wonderful gifts of more clothes and jewelry. I received a few books from Grampy Charlie that I was well beyond, but would never tell him that, and a hand woven rug from Huilen and Nahuel. Billy made me a necklace that, although he never said a word, I think he made the beads in it himself. It was beautiful. And the Wolves had all gotten together to give me some cheesy tourist trap items from La Push, as a joke, but I loved them too. They would be wonderful reminders of my time there.

My favorite gift of all was from Jacob. I could not believe he hand-carved so many Wolves himself. The detail was amazing. Of course I had seen the one he made for my mother years ago, but these seemed more personal. He was truly talented. At first I thought it was just a collection of Wolves in various poses, but upon closer examination I could see that they were not just any Wolves. They were of Jacob and his Pack, along with a few of the Wolves from Sam's Pack. It was amazing. It must have taken him hours.

"Here," Jacob said handing me the seashell I had requested after I finished opening the last of my presents. "If I had known all you wanted for your birthday was a shell, I could have saved myself a lot of time and effort," he joked.

"That's not why I requested one Jacob." I replied, but before I got the chance to explain the significance of the shell to him my father interrupted us.

"We have one more present," he said, speaking loud enough to be heard over the crowd, "could everyone please gather in the front yard."

Once we were all outside my father continued, "Billy, we want to thank you for letting your son join our family in Hoodsport. We know how much you love him and how much of a help he has been to you over the years. Nothing we could ever say or do could ever replace him, but we hope this might make things a bit easier for you. Please accept this gift from us, as a small token of our appreciation."

Uncle Emmett then pulled up in a brand new truck. When he got out I saw that it looked like it had been specially outfitted to accommodate Billy's wheelchair. The front seat was missing and there was a chair lift in its place so Billy could just roll up to the door and the mechanical lift would take him (and his chair) to where the driver's seat would normally be. It looked like Aunt Rose's handiwork. He would never need anyone to help him in and out of a truck again. I could also see that there were accelerator and brake controls on the steering wheel, if he ever needed them in the future. I wonder what else she did? Now it made sense why Aunt Alice insisted Jacob drive Billy here.

"You did a fine job raising Jacob and we hope he will be as happy with our family as he has been with you and yours," my father finished saying.

I don't think any of the Wolves even heard my father, they were all mesmerized by the truck.

As I looked at Jacob though I could see that he was fighting back some tears that were threatening to fall from his eyes and I felt guilty, again, that I was taking Jacob away from his family.

"Guys could you give me a moment alone with the Cullens?" Billy did not look happy like I thought he would, he actually looked . . . mad. But why?

Most of the party guests retreated back into the house, Jacob's Pack and my family remained. After a minute Billy started talking again. "Thank you Edward, that is very . . . charitable of you, but I can't accept that truck. I understand that Jake needs to be with Renesmee since he Imprinted on her, . . . but you seem to think that it's okay to trade my son in for a fancy ride and it's not." He looked pissed and started rolling away, but Jake blocked his path.

Oh, this was awkward. The few remaining Wolves slowly dispersed into the woods and most of my family vanished back into the house.

"Dad, I'm not being traded for a truck, how could you say that."

"It's alright, Jacob," my father said, "Billy is right to be upset. He is losing you. You're his only son. It's understandable, him being angry." Then he turned back to Billy. "Please forgive us, we did not mean to distress you in any way."

"You must understand that we were not trying to insult you," Carlisle continued for him. "We simply wanted to try to do whatever we could to make this easier for you."

"Renesmee, why don't you go inside," my father whispered to me.

"Alright, dad." I agreed, but first I turned and went over to Billy. I wanted to say a proper goodbye to him in case I did not get another chance before we left.

I gave Billy a hug, "Thank you for coming to my birthday party." I am sorry I'm ripping your family apart. I understand that if he never Imprinted on me, you would still have your son. Please forgive me. Jacob is so wonderful, and I know why you love him so much, because I love him too and would not want to give him up either . I shared the last part with my gift and passed on to him all the love I felt for both of them.

He gruffed then let out a deep breath. "Nessie, you're right. I know, I overreacted. It's my turn to ask for your forgiveness. I can see you were only trying to do something nice." He looked like he was the one holding back tears now.

I just smiled and nodded to him, if I tried to talk anymore I would have started crying.

"Billy, I'll be right back," Jacob then picked me up and carried me in the house to where the rest of my family was trying to ignore, but could clearly hear, the awkward conversation that just happened outside.

"Nessie, I don't know what you shared with him, but I can't thank you enough. I have to go back and talk with him some more, make sure everything is okay, and say goodbye. Do you think you will be okay for a bit?"

"Of course, I will see you when you're done."

Uncle Emmett put on a movie and turned up the volume so they could have some privacy outside. An hour later Jacob came back inside. He told me that everything was worked out with Billy, thanks to me. I didn't think I did that much, I just told him how much I loved his son. In the end Billy drove his new truck home. According to my father he said that Billy really did appreciate it.