Authors Note: All things Twilight belong to Stephenie Meyer, I just dream about them. Really, really awfully sorry it took me forever to get this posted. I grovel at your feet and hope you'll forgive me. My only excuse is that I still have a hard time finding time to write when I'm awake, and still am more tired than before. For those of you who doesn't know/guessed yet, my tiredness is because I'm pregnant, and I have a little half-pup coming along in November. I will NOT abandon this story until it ends, I swear, but it might take me a while to get there. Enjoy!

Beta: Lacrema

Chapter 10

Nessie

I felt warm, really warm, when I woke up. As I stretched out, I wondered why, because I was obviously alone in the bed. I slowly opened my eyes and my breath caught in my throat. I was in my parents' bedroom, the morning sun shining on me through the big windows, warming me. I had never been allowed to sleep in their bed. If I got scared by nightmares, one of them would come sleep in my bed. The bed was huge and soft. Too soft. I preferred the more hard kind of bed Jacob used.

Jacob. I let out a sigh as I remembered that I had asked him to come sleep with me. He obviously hadn't.

"Don't fret over Jacob, Renesmee. It's for the better he didn't come."

Dad! I couldn't see him, he must be standing somewhere behind me. I closed my eyes and sunk back into the down pillows. Why could he hear me, wasn't mom shielding me?

"Your mom has gone for a shopping trip with Alice. They are shopping for college."

College? Shopping? Mom? Why?

"Alice saw herself getting new wardrobes for everyone and she also saw a few acceptances in the mail. She is rooting for Harvard, saying they have the best close-to-campus shopping."

I could hear the eye roll as sure as if I had seen it. It made me smile. The years with Jacob were rubbing off on him-- he was far more sarcastic now than he was in my earliest memories.

"Ah, Jacob again." The hint of annoyance in his voice mixed strangely with the audible smile. "I suppose he's on you mind constantly, as Bella always is with me. You have to excuse my bluntness, it has been so long since I heard you that I forgot how much of your life centers around him. About why you're sleeping here," there was a pause and I imagined him making a sweep around the room with his hands, showing it off to me. "I met Jacob a few hours ago, he called me down there, and at the top of his mind was, no surprise, your suggestion."

Jacob told him? I couldn't believe it.

"Nessie, Nessie, Nessie. I told you, Bella is away. I have access to both of your thoughts. He told me nothing. But he wasn't cautious about his thoughts, either, like he was before. I know what you two were up to on the beach."

Oh no. I cringed and rolled over to my belly, hiding my head under one of the huge pillows. The embarrassment was excruciating.

"I'm a bit mad at you both, I'm sure you understand why. That is the reason I moved you here, so that I could catch him without waking you if he did try to sneak into your bedroom."

I knew I didn't need to speak out loud, but right now it felt like I needed to be vocal, to make him stop babbling. "Dad? Can I go to my own room? I wanna get dressed." And get out of here, away from him.

"All right. No one is stopping you." I could still feel his eyes burning through the pillow. "Fine, I'll leave you alone to get out of bed, but Renesmee? When you're dressed, we will talk about this."

I heard the door quietly open and then close a second later. I listened intently to decide if he really left the room or if he was standing inside the door, waiting for me. I breathed out in relief when I heard the piano in the living room sing to life. I should give my father a break. He wasn't intentionally spying on me, and I was fairly sure he had heard my worry and was playing so that I would know where he was.

Accompanied by the soft notes, I rolled to the edge of the bed and sat up. My head was spinning a little and as I dangled my feet from the high bed, I felt a bit parched, probably from sleeping in the sunlight. I would need to go hunting soon enough. Before I could begin to really procrastinate I bounced a few times and heard the tiny cringes from the springs in the mattress, then jumped to my feet. I could see why I hadn't been allowed in here as a little girl, I would have loved to jump in that bed. Dad never appreciated the sleepover when Alice had taught me how much fun that was.

The memory made me smile as I sneaked out of my parents' bedroom and crossed the corridor to my own. When I closed the door behind me, I felt safe. Silly, since my dad could undoubtedly still hear my thoughts, but still.

I took my time choosing my clothes, having decided that taking a shower would be putting it off too much. I would eventually have to discuss my relationship with Jacob with my dad. And honestly, I'd rather have that talk with him than with mom. She was really testy about anything involving me and Jacob. I knew why, of course, she had told me everything about her and Jacob, and how much she once loved him. She said I had a right to know. Of course, I didn't understand then what she meant by that. With a final look in the mirror, judging my jeans and polo sweater, I left the sanctuary of my room and walked towards the dying notes from the piano.

Jacob

I was anxiously guarding my phone, waiting for her call.

I had spent all of last night talking to the pack, discussing both the very real threat that the Volturi presented and the new order of the pack-- my pack. Sam had been among the wolves who had guarded Edward, and before I could confront him about what Nessie had told me, he explained it to me. Said he hadn't dared ask me to accept responsibility over the pack without trying me first, because I had been so hellbent on never leading them all.

I saw the wisdom of his reasoning, and truth be told, I wasn't even angry at him for tricking me. They were my people after all. Everyone from Sam, who phased first of us all, down to Mandy, Embry's baby sister and the cub of the pack. And whether I liked it or not, they had been in my charge for a few years now, and the only thing that had bothered me was Sam avoiding his duties. Not me having to take the responsibility or making tough calls.

By the time the conversation had come around to this, we had both phased to make sure we didn't misunderstand each other. Then Sam had formally retired from being alpha, leader of the pack. He also told me that the pack could function perfectly well with just the beta running it, as long as the alpha was there for support. I knew why he told me that, and was grateful because he made it easier for me to make my decision.

After things had been settled with the pack, we had called down Edward, since Carlisle was still occupied dealing with the Italians. When the matters of the treaty had been dealt with, and the distinction in scent of the animal-eating vampires and the ones with the more repulsive diet had been made clear to all wolves who had no first-hand experience, Edward asked to speak with me in private. Embry had taken Becca home to introduce her to his mother, so we decided to talk inside, since it was now unoccupied. Still, we kept to the kitchen.

"So, Edward, you want something to drink?" I smirked as I teased him.

"Thank you for offering, but I am content at the moment, thank you." He returned my smirk with his own crooked smile.

"Sure, sure. Just haven't smelled anything appetizing lately, right?" I sat my self down on the kitchen counter and waited for him to come to the reason he wanted to talk to me privately.

"Ah, yes. Jacob, Bella has left Forks to go shopping with Alice. I can hear you, and Renesmee too."

Crap.

He looked a bit bothered by my mental language. "You could say that. I must confess, am disappointed in you."

I shrugged and tried to joke. "Well, what can you expect? I'm a dog, after all..."

He sighed. "Jacob, please, she is my daughter."

"Then don't snoop in my head."

"You are very loud about that specific... moment." He looked pained and disgusted at the thought.

"Well, I'm sorry. I can't really help it."

"I know Jacob, I know. The absolute absence of glee and pride is all that saves you. If you had considered it a conquest you can feel assured I would let Bella know."

I flinched at the thought. Bella was really frightening when it came to protecting Nessie. "So... Why are we talking about this?" I was a bit confused, his tone and words didn't match.

"Well, I suppose your father has had 'the talk' with you." He raised an eyebrow at me and I nodded. It had been on the night of my fifteenth birthday. Dad had given me a condom pack and told me how to use it. It was about the most embarrassing moment of my life. It wasn't like it was news to me, we did have sex-ed in school. Dad told me later it had been a piece of cake for him, but a few years earlier when he had to have that talk with my sisters, it had been horrible. I understood him. I snapped out of my memories as Edward cleared his throat with a soft sound.

"Good. So I have no need to educate you about the birds and the bees. Though, I would strongly encourage you to stay here, in your house, tonight. Not sneaking into my baby girl's bedroom. I will have a talk with her in the morning, and then I'll have her call you. Bella should be getting back by then and you can have your heads to yourselves again." He looked about as relieved at the thought of Bella's return as I felt.

"Ehr... OK. I guess... Uhm. I dunno?" What do you say when the father of your girlfriend catches you with your hand in the cookie jar-- or, well, mind in the cookie jar, I guess. I was startled by the dry cough-like laughter.

"Jacob. I hate that she is growing up, and to make matters worse, she's doing it at rocket speed. However, technically, she's been an adult for almost two years now. I have more than a lifetime of experience of what adults, both men and women, desire from a relationship. You don't have my blessing, I'm not that accepting, but I understand why this is happening and accept the inevitability of it from a biological point of view. Just be careful with my little girl, that's all I ask!"

I knew I looked like a fool, I could feel my jaw dangling somewhere far below the rest of my face.

"Eh... Edward, you lost me about halfway through that, come again?"

A flash of dry humor crossed his face and pulled at the corner of his mouth."It means, if I catch you two, you're in big trouble. But since you technically are both teenagers, I will not be a fool. I hope you have condoms that are fresher than the ones your father gave you ten years ago."

He exited the kitchen, leaving me dumbfounded on the counter, trying not to fall off. When he opened the door he called back to me.

"Good bye Jacob, try to get some sleep. I suspect you'll need it."

I didn't get any sleep. I was too afraid I wouldn't wake up when her call came, so I tried to keep myself busy while hovering around the phone. My house was now perfectly clean and tidy. I doubted even Blondie would... oh, wait, of course Blondie would find something to complain about; the reek of dog.

After that, I did some push-ups, some sit-ups, some jumping jacks, sat in 90 degrees against the wall, anything to keep myself from falling asleep. Sometime during my exercise scheme one of my brothers had popped his head through the door and asked if I wanted some food or drink or company. I growled and threw the closest thing, a sideboard, at the door. They left me alone from then on.

I was about to lose my mind when the ring broke the oppressive silence. I was in such a hurry to pick up that I dropped the phone and had to get down on the floor and fetch it from under my grandmothers rocking chair. I hurriedly answered before she could hang up on me for taking so long to pick up.

"What's with the rumble and huffing and puffing?"

As soon as her soothing voice hit my eardrums I felt my muscles relax and I laid down on my back where I was, halfway in under the rocking chair. I was laughing out of pure joy to finally be talking to her. "I dropped the phone because I was so eager to speak to you, Sweets." I heard her chuckle.

"Right. Are you alone?"

"Yeah,why?"

"Because I finally am. Mom's home, both her and dad followed Alice up to the mansion to discuss college plans."

"So... We have our heads to ourselves again?"

"Yeah, finally. I was going insane here."

I exhaled, and tried to imagine if my dad had been able to read my mind. A shudder rippled down my back."Sorry babe, didn't mean to let your dad in on our secret." I felt like a dog, literally.

"I know, and if you hadn't, I probably would. I can't keep my mind away from you for more than three seconds at a time."

"Tell me about it." I didn't know what to say, I just wanted her to keep speaking, I just wanted to hear her voice.

"Dad had 'the talk' with me."

Ouch!"Again, I'm so, so sorry, Nessie." Feeling like a flea on a dog was more like it.

"It was bound to happen anyway. I guess we should be happy it was nothing more than rolling around in the sand. Could you imagine if we had actually..." Her suggestive pause told me exactly what she meant, and I could picture that scene quite well. It included me dying.

"Lucky us." My voice was dripping with sarcasm.

"Oh no." She suddenly sounded scared.

"What Nessie, what's wrong?" I sat up straight, only to hit my head on the chair, almost causing it to topple over.

"He had it with you, too?"

I laughed in relief. Was that all she was worried about? "No, I mean, he asked me about it and got a front row view of the little talk my dad had with me when I turned fifteen. Jeez, at least I had the comfort of knowing my dad couldn't read my mind. I'm so sorry for causing this sweetie, I really am." Next time we met, I would grovel at her feet, treat her like a queen, do anything she wanted.

"I'm not. You know, we were both in on it. But anyway, let's talk about something more pleasant than my father butting in on our lives, OK?"

"Sure sure. I'm game." Couldn't be happier to leave that particular subject.

"So, I might be going off to Harvard in the fall."

"Oh..." As happy as she sounded, I couldn't help feeling disappointed. Harvard was really, really far away.

"I know it's far away, but you knew I'd have to go to college, Jacob. You didn't think I'd stay and go to Washington State, did you?"

I tried not to let her know how much I had hoped for just that. "Guess not."

"What is it? I don't understand, even if I went there, we wouldn't see each other much. I mean, it's not just like you could come live in my dorm or something."

"Right." Better keep my answers short so she doesn't see how much her words hurt.

"Jacob, what's wrong? I don't understand."

I couldn't take it anymore, the tears where seconds away from breaking through. "Sorry sweetie, I gotta go. Pack's wondering where I am." I hung up the phone and let the tears flow freely as I stumbled towards the refrigerator and tore the acceptance letter from said crappy college from where it hung next to my brand new diploma. The night classes had almost killed me. The pace was tough, but Nessie wasn't the only one who had graduated high school a few days ago. I tore them both to pieces before leaving my house and stalking into the woods, looking for a stray vampire or something-- anything-- to take my mind off of this.

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AN: For those confused about Nessie's "no problem with going away" attitude, she truly believes Jacob would follow her to the end of the world if it came to that. He have always been around, maybe not in her sight, but never very far either. Just figured I'd let you all know that, since unfortunately I cannot guarantie when next chapter will be up. Hope you liked this one, even though it took its time =)