Just go with it... :)

Chapter Nineteen:

Decisions are Stupid… Especially Mine

"Nessie! Nessie, over here!" I walked around a rack holding maternity dresses and saw Claire standing there in an empire waist shirt, the fabric flowing gracefully over her baby bump. "Isn't it cute?" she squealed, spinning around, letting the fabric swish around.

I nodded. "Yeah, adorable actually," I said, holding her still so I could get a better look at the shirt. "It looks like it could be made by Gucci or something." Claire laughed but looked sadly at the big sign over the entrance beholding a giant GAP. "I bet Quil would love you in the shirt."

She gasped. "Nessie, that totally reminds me!" I looked at her, raising one eyebrow. "Quil said he was taking me somewhere special tonight. He said to dress as if I was meeting celebrities or something along those lines." I raised my other eyebrow. "Nessie!" she squealed, grabbing my hands and bouncing up and down. "Help me pick out a dress. Something that will look gorgeous despite this stupid baby bump."

I looked at her, but shrugged. "Why not. I love people modeling clothes for me. And who knows. I might find a few dresses I like. Let's go."

I grabbed her hand and started to pull her out of the store but she held back. "Nessie, this is the most expensive I can get," she said sorrowfully, looking around the GAP store.

I made a devilish smile. "Don't worry, babe. I'll buy you a dress."

She squealed. "Really? You will?" I nodded and thought she was going to cry. Instead she called out, "Alice, we're going to a different store!"

"Um, which one?" was called back in return.

"Ness, where are we going?"

Again, I smiled devilishly. "We'll meet you at the Jovani store at the end of the mall!" I shouted, pulling Claire out of the store as she squealed with excitement. "Okay, okay, okay!" I said once we got there, "We need to find you an empire waist dress. Luckily, Jovani carries a lot of those." She looked at me like I was crazy. "I'll show you. Follow."

Claire and I searched through the racks until we came upon a section with brightly colored dresses. "Ness? These dresses are gorgeous!" She snuck a peek at a black and white polka dotted one. "But freaking expensive! You can't buy me one. I refuse to accept any of these dresses."

I laughed once. "Claire, it's a gift to you. I want to give you one of these dresses. Quil's taking you out tonight and you need to look hot!" I said, jokingly bumping my hip against hers.

"No, Nessie. This dress costs four hundred and fifty dollars. And it's on sale!" she said, throwing her hands up in the air.

"But, Claire-"

"No, Nessie," she said, holding her hands up, stopping me. "No. I'm not going to take one. Ever."

I did a mock disappointed sigh, but then a devious smile flashed across my face just as a brilliant idea ran through my mind. "Well, why don't you try a few on, just so you have an idea of what you want," I said, taking her hand and running it over the dresses on the rack.
~*~

"This one," she said, twirling in front of the mirror. I raised an eyebrow at her, smirking behind my hair. "It's perfect. I mean, look at the way it flows when I spin. And how, even with the baby bump, I look pretty hot!" she said, spinning around one more time before looking straight at me. "Buy it." It was an order. Another raised eyebrow. "I'm serious, Nessie. Buy it!"

"But Claire," I said over exaggeratedly, like a really bad actor, "You said you didn't want me to buy you a dress. Especially one from Jovani."

She laughed. "Yeah, I know. But I like this one. It's impossible to live without this one. I can wear it to so many things, not just out with Quil tonight. I could wear it in the summer. It's wicked light, you know that?" She was speaking so fast, if I wasn't half vampire, I would have never been able to understand her. "Please, Nessie? Please? It's the perfect dress. I absolutely need it. It's essential. It's, just, it feels like it was made for me, you know?"

I smiled, laughing. "Yeah, I do know that feeling." Her lip pushed out into a pout. "Ugh, fine! I'll buy it," I said, acting badly again. Of course I wanted to buy her the dress. But she'll need shoes. That's our next stop.

"No need, Nessie. I have the shoes already," Alice said, walking in and placing a Jimmy Choo shoe box next to me. "Rosalie was going to eat me alive if we didn't go get her shoes and I saw that Claire was getting that dress, I thought getting her some shoes for tonight wouldn't be so awful."

Claire opened the box and gasped as she looked at the shoes. "Oh, Alice, they're adorable! Simply adorable. I love them, thank you!"

Alice smiled and nodded a 'You're welcome,' before getting up and pulling me to another aisle, near more empire waist dresses. "Nessie, guess who I saw walking down the hall with a younger sister?"

I smirked. "Saw is in you actually saw him or you saw him in a vision?" I said smugly, crossing my arms over my chest. Alice glared at me in the most frightening way possible, trying to make up for her insanely short height. After a minute of a full on staring contest, I sighed. "Who did you see Alice?"

She smiled and became joyful again. "I saw Kyle with his little sister." My jaw dropped and Alice pushed it closed with her finger. "Don't look so shocked. He's been asking after you for, like weeks. He's worried about you."

I smiled at his kindness and crossed my arms over my chest. "How did he know I was going to be here today?" I said, looking at her accusingly. She shrugged and I raised one eyebrow. It seemed I was doing that a lot lately. "Alice…"

She sighed. "Fine. I told him we were coming. He wants to see you." She bumped her hip against mine as she walked past. "In fact, I think he likes you." I followed her, knowing she was up to something. "So, we need to find you a dress," she said, walking back toward where Rosalie and Claire were.

I grabbed her shoulder and spun her around. "What? What do you mean I'll need a dress? A dress for what?"

She turned around. "I've said too much."

"Alice," I forced out, running around in front of her and stopping her path. "What are you talking about?"

She smiled teasingly. "Are you really that dim?" I nodded. "Oh." Alice looked at the ground, digging the toe of her boot into the ground, making a dent in the wood. "I had a vision of Kyle kinda sorta asking you out on a date." I huffed angrily at her and crossed my arms over my chest. She did the same. "Hey, come on, Ness, he's not that bad. He's really nice and he cares about you. Why else would he back constantly asking where you were in school? He says he's so bored in math because you're not there."

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, right." She spun around and looked at me, smiling. "Wait, has he really?" I said, suddenly getting girly and giggly. Alice nodded, taking my hand and squeezing it. I smiled, biting my lip. Looking up at the ceiling, I thought about this. Deeply. "Okay, Alice. Let's do this thing."
~*~

Chapter Twenty:

Running into people is fun. Especially if you happen to run into a certain someone…

"No, Nessie, you have to push your shoulders back more," Alice said, reaching up to grab my shoulders and pull them back roughly. "There, see? Now you fill out the dress perfectly."

I looked at her through the mirror with a raised eyebrow. "Yeah, I fill out the dress but it looks like I'm trying to poke someone's eye out with my boob." Alice rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest. "Seriously, I think it would be better if we just had Esme tailor it a little bit. She wouldn't mind."

A small sigh came from behind as Alice coming in front of me to stare me down. When I didn't back down, she slumped into the small seat in the changing room. "Alright, fine." I smiled and looked at myself in the mirror. "But you do look pretty," she said sullenly, sad that she lost the fight.

"Alice?" I asked, looking over my shoulder to see how the dressed looked form the back.

"Yes?" she replied back in the same tone—quiet and calm.

I sighed and looked back at her. "Do you think I made the right decision?"

She furrowed her brow at me. "Of course. This dress makes you look like you just stepped out of a fashion advertisement in Cosmo," she said, kicking one leg over the over, crossing her legs at the knees. "I mean, it goes with your skin tone and it accents your curves perfectly, I don't think you could have picked a better dress and-"

"No, Alice," I said quietly, interrupting her. "I mean, do you think I made the right decision with Jacob." Her features fell in sadness and I sat down on the little bench next to her. "Earlier today, Claire was saying that imprints are your soul mates or something and that if Quill ever left her or if she ever left Quil she would be crushed so I'm thinking, did I do the right thing?"

Alice gave me a small smile and put her arm around my shoulder comfortingly. "If being apart from him is what you want, then you did make the right decision," she said, reaching her other arm around me and hugging my shoulders.

I knew she was lying, I just knew it. This whole family had a secret and I could tell. Just then, Rosalie burst through the changing room door, a flushed look on her face, even though it was physically impossible for a vampire to look flushed. Somehow, she managed to. "How does the dress fit?" she spat out, her ponytail flopping over the top of her head. She got one look at me and screamed. "Renesmee! You look fantastically and positively sexy! Buy it! Right now!"

Alice and I exchanged looks of confusion before looking at Rosalie. "Um, what?" I said, confused. "Rose, what's going on?"

She bounced in place quickly, a big smile on her face. "I saw Kyle and some tiny person in the food court."

I groaned. "Oh, God. You know about Kyle too. Jeez, Alice did you tell the whole fam-" I stopped midsentence. "Wait, Rosalie what were you doing in the food court?"

"I was being a good friend and getting Claire some food and I saw him sitting there with a little girl, same color hair and she was wearing the cutest dress a toddler could ever posses and no shoes. Which was weird. But whatever..."

I fought back a smile as I slipped off the straps of the dress and tugged the long sweater I was wearing over my head. After pulling the rest of the dress down and putting on my boots, I hung the dress back up on the hanger. "Okay, so, yes? You're buying the dress?" Alice said, holding her arms out and allowing me to drape the dress across her arms. I nodded, pulling my hair up into a messy bun. "Good. I'll go up and buy it." She flounced out of the changing room with me and Rosalie following behind. "Claire, let's go. We're buying the dresses now." Claire, who was almost ready to shove a fork full of Lo Mein into her mouth, stopped and put the fork into her container, closing it securely before standing up and waddling after Alice.

I sighed but followed them out to the register where the cashier was boxing up Claire's dress as well as mine and another box. When I inquired as to what is was, Alice smiled at me and motioned to the box, asking the woman behind the counter if it was alright for her to untie the ribbon and show me. She nodded happily and Alice tugged at the ribbon and lifted the lid, revealing the most interesting yet beautiful shoes I'd ever seen.

"They're not by Jovani but I asked Heather to wrap them up anyway," Rosalie said, leaning against the counter and smiling at us innocently. "I like walking around with wrapped boxes. It makes me feel-"

"Special," Alice said, the word coming out in a sigh as she began to get lost in a world of shopping. Claire and I gave each other looks that said 'They are the saddest people on the planet' before I just reached into Alice's purse and pulled out her credit card, handing it to Heather. After signing, I grabbed my dress and shoes while Claire took her purchases and we headed out of the store, calling a 'Thanks Heather' over our shoulders while Rosalie and Alice stayed where they were, still in a daze.

"So, where do you want to go now?" I asked Claire, swinging my bags like a true 'shopaholic.'

She thought for a minute, then looked down at her belly. "Where do you want to go, baby?" she said quietly, looking at the bump. "Food court," she said to me, smiling broadly.

I stopped by a McDonalds and bought a thing of fries and a vanilla milkshake. "Claire, you talk to the baby?" I said teasingly, nudging her arm with my elbow. She smiled at me, laughing once. "Yeah, I never understood why mothers did that. You know, talk to their baby?"

Claire sat down at a table close to the McDonalds and opened her container of food again. "Well, they say that babies can hear you."

"Well, yes, I remember when my mother was pregnant with me they would talk to me but I have above-average intelligence. I could hear them and know what they were saying. I'm not sure that baby can."

After swallowing the Lo Mein she was about to eat earlier, Claire took an opportunity to fill me in on motherhood. "Well, this mothering magazine that's written by some really experienced scientist guy who lives for information about unborn babies said that they are calmed by the sound of their mother's voice even if they can't understand what she's saying. They like to be sung to, read to, talked to; apparently it helps their minds develop more quickly and they become smarter." I nodded, slowly chewing on a fry. "So, I talk to him… her… it… as much as I can because, like most mothers, I want to have a smart baby."

I bit my lip and smiled, finished off my fries, throwing the little cardboard thing away before we headed down to the baby store at the other end of the mall, our feet moving slowly as we talked about names they wanted, what she wanted the gender to be and so on and so forth. It was so cool seeing Claire light up when she talked about the baby I didn't even notice the people coming toward us until I bumped into them.

"Oh, gosh, I'm sorry. I didn't… see… you…" My words slowed as I saw who it was and I smiled slowly. "Kyle, hi."

"Hi," he said quietly, reaching out and grabbing a small girl's hand as she began to scamper away. "No, Lyla, stay over here. You can't just go wandering off," he whispered to her, holding her hand tightly in his own. I looked at the little girl. She was, in fact, wearing a very cute dress but now she had shoes on, little pink high tops. "So." He cleared this throat. "How are you?"

I smiled, biting my lip slightly. "I'm alright, I guess."

He narrowed his eyes at me jokingly. "Nessie, you've been out of school for about a month and a half. You can't possibly be alright."

I rolled my eyes, looking at me feet. "Well, I guess, I'm a little bit not alright," I said, fumbling for my words.

Kyle smiled and Claire took my hand in hers for a minute before whispering, "I'll see you later," and stepping around Kyle. After she was a few feet behind him, she turned around and fanned her face, mouthing 'So hot!' and I giggled once, biting my lips. When Kyle turned around, she just smiled giddily at him, and waggled her fingers before continuing on to the baby store.

Kyle looked back to me and cocked an eyebrow. "Who was that?"

"Oh, just a friend of mine from back in Forks," I said, running a hand through my hair.

He nodded, gnawing on his bottom lip. Then, all of a sudden, he took off running, dodging all the people around him until he reached the food court. He went over to one of those electronic horses that you need to put a coin in until it slowly starts to move back and forth. One of those idiotic things that little children find amusing. He pried his little sister off the horse and held her tightly while she squirmed, kicking her little legs back and forth. By the time he'd gotten back to where I was, he'd managed to bribe her quiet with an ice cream cone he was going to buy later and when they stopped in front of me, he had her balanced on his hip.

"Sorry," he said quietly. "Lyla thinks it's hilarious to run off every five seconds," he said more loudly, tickling the little girl's stomach. We were all quiet for a minute before he looked at me through his blonde hair. "Anyway, you were a little bit not alright?" He grinned at me, showing his perfect teeth.

I nodded, smiling back at him. "Yeah, I mean, everyone is upset after a break up-"

"But no one stays home from school for a month and a half because of it." His voice was, again, teasing and sarcastic.

"Yeah, I guess I took it a little too dramatically," I said, biting down on my tongue to stop the lump in my throat from rising. He nodded modestly at me, laughing slightly.

Lyla started tugging on Kyle's sleeve stretching the fabric so much the t-shirt sleeve could have reached his elbow. "Kyle!" she said, dragging out his name. "Ice cream. Now!"

"Ugh, Lye, can you just wait one minute?" he said, kissing her forehead before she slumped in his arms, resting her head on his shoulder. After a few seconds, Kyle let out a sigh and mumbled, 'Alright, I'm just gonna go for it.' "Nessie, do you want an ice cream?"

I rocked back and forth on my feet biting on my lip slightly, but then I smiled.
~*~

Chapter Twenty One:

Confiding and Telling Secrets

"Go on," I said, nudging Kyle's elbow with my own, taking a bite of my ice cream. We were outside Benson's, sitting at the picnic benches with Lyla close by, playing with a few other toddlers. "So, what's your deepest secret?"

He snorted. "Come on, Nessie. Guys don't tell girls their deepest secrets. It's not something we do…"

I smiled. "What if the girl were to give you something if you did?"

"Like what?" he said, waggling his eyebrows. I leaned forward, planting a kiss on his cheek and he smiled. "I think it'll take a little more persuading."

I rolled my eyes at him. "That's all your getting, now spill."

Kyle thought for a moment, his eyes looking to the sky as he pondered. What he was pondering, I didn't know. "Okay," he said suddenly, leaning closer to me, his elbows making the old wooden table creak. "You can't say anything, because it would absolutely crush two very important people if anyone finds out about this."

"Who?"

Kyle pointed to himself, then to Lyla. My mouth fell open slightly and I nodded, letting him continue. "So, my deepest darkest secret is… My parents are gone."

"Are they, like, on a permanent business thing or something?" I said, setting my empty ice cream cup on the table.

Kyle shook his head. "No, um, they… They died." My hand shot up to my mouth, covering a gasp. "When Lyla was three and a half. They were driving to a business conference in D.C. and that was in the winter; D.C.'s hectic and stuff, you know?" he said, looking down at the table sadly.

I placed my hand over his, stroking my thumb across his knuckles. "I'm so sorry. I know what it'd like to lose someone close to you."

"Oh, yeah, Jacob, right?"

I smiled. "No." Kyle's forehead creased in confusion and he gave me a look, telling me to continue. "I once had a pet fish," I said in a solemn voice. "When I came home from school one day, I saw Emmett and Jasper tossing John Bob around in a plastic bag filled with water. They promised they wouldn't break it, but, of course, it smashed against the wall, and John Bob fell to his death. Emmett tried to give him C.P.R., but it was too late."

I looked up at Kyle sadly and his mouth was twitching as he tried not to smile, but he broke out laughing, throwing his head back, his shoulders shaking and his chest heaving up and down. "You're funny, Renesmee," he said quietly when he'd calmed down.

I smiled. "Thank you." There was an uncomfortable silence between us. "So, I don't see how that would crush Lyla, or you for that matter."

He sighed. "She doesn't know they're dead," he said quietly, looking over at his little sister. "She thinks they're visiting her imaginary friend, Gary, who fell down the stairs and hit his head, making him close his eyes forever." My mouth fell open and I stared at Kyle, not believing his little sister thought something up like that. "I know, right? Scary how she thinks up things like this. Anyway, whenever I put her down for her nap or to go to bed at night, she always says, 'Kyle, wake me up if Momma and Daddy come home, please,' before falling asleep instantly." My chin quivered. "So, she would be crushed if she really found out they weren't alive anymore."

"And it would crush you if she was crushed?"

He nodded his head. "Yeah. I mean, when the only person you have left in your family doesn't know that your parents aren't alive and that you've been keeping a secret like that from her for her whole life… I mean…"

"Oh," I said, dragging out the 'O.' "That's horrible, Kyle, I'm so sorry; having to keep that secret to yourself must be really hard for you."

He nodded. "Yeah, it is. I mean, having to keep a job as well as taking care of my sister and myself… Difficult as hell."

"What have, like, social services done about it?"

Kyle sighed. "They help us. I mean, because I'm seventeen, I'm not legally fit to take care of a five year old, but, for some bizarre, reason, they let me keep her and take care of her. I think they saw the way we were all each other had and stuff, so they let me keep her." I was silent. "And they give up money, too. Every month, we get, like, a couple hundred bucks and stuff. Our house doesn't cost that much because it's small. Plus, we rent it, so we get by pretty well. I'm just so glad they've let us stay together and that they're so supportive of us and all…"

I nodded just as Lyla came scurrying over, frowning. "Kyle!" she said, dragging out his name as long as she could. "It's raining!"

Kyle looked up to the sky, squinting as raindrops began to fall onto his face. "You're right, Lye, let's go. Do you have your umbrella?" She flicked her arm up, revealing an opened umbrella decorated to look like a ladybug; there were even eyes popping out of the top. "Alright, awesome." Kyle opened a plain umbrella and held it over us.

"How did you happen to have umbrellas?" I said, impressed.

"The weather forecast said cloudy with showers. When you have a toddler to take care of, you start understanding the necessities." I smiled as we walked over to my car, Lyla climbing into the back while Kyle got in the passenger's seat.

"Okay, so should I take you guys back to the mall?" I said, pulling out of the parking lot and onto the road.

"Nope. We took a cab there, since our neighbor borrowed my car for his weekend trip to Cape Cod with his family," he said, shaking his hair free of any water that may have hit his head.

I nodded, turning my GPS on. "Okay, well, put in your address, I can't take directions from a person."

Kyle laughed, punching his address into the GPS. "Kyle!" Lyla said suddenly from the back seat. "Guess! WHAT!"

"What, baby?"

"Mr. Meatloaf von Yum Yums came home!" she squealed, clapping her hands together rapidly.

My forehead creased in confusion. "Who on earth is Mr. Meatloaf von Yum Yums?" I said curiously.

"Our cat," Kyle said in a logical voice as if I was just supposed to know who Mr. Meatloaf von Yum Yums was from kick ass knowledge. "He ran away about a week ago. Lyla's been looking for him everywhere. She even went into the neighbors garden, which she's not allowed to do-" He shot her a look in the rear view mirror "-But anyway… Lye, that's great. Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"…Uh, I forgot!"

This girl likes to shout. "Indoor voices, Lyla, please," he said, reaching behind him to take her hand and squeeze it once. Lyla laughed and began to babble on and on about her school play; they were doing a food groups presentation and she was in the dessert scene. She wouldn't tell me what she was and said that if I wanted to find out, I would have to go see it.

I smiled, stopping on the curb by Kyle's house. His place was small, smaller than I expected it to be, especially since he was so… Well kept. It was the size of a cottage you would see in the country; a thatched roof, white stone walls, tiny green lawn, little walkway wrapping around the house so you could walk around in the woods without leaving your backward. I smiled. It was quant in a really cheesy way.

"Your house is adorable," I said, leaning back in my seat with my hands gripping the steering wheel loosely as I stared out my window.

Kyle blushed, unbuckling his seat belt and climbing out of the car, pulling his seat forward to Lyla could climb out. "Thanks, Nessie. I'm sure your house is gigantic," he said sarcastically.

I sighed. "No, Kyle, I didn't mean it in that way."

He smiled. "Don't worry about it, Ness. See you later. Lyla, say good bye," he called out to his little sister. She turned from her spot in front of the wooden door to wave at me. "Bye, Nessie. See you later."

He shut the door and walked up to the front door, shuffling around in his pocket before pulling out a ring of three or four keys. He unlocked the door and allowed Lyla to scamper in before turning to me and waving, stepping into his house and disappearing.

As soon as the door was closed, I let my head fall to the top the wheel. "Way to go, Nessie. Great way to say good bye," I said to myself, muttering cuss words and profane things as I pulled away, heading home. It wasn't until I pulled into my spot in the garage that I noticed Lyla's ladybug umbrella lying in the backseat of my car. I reached back and grabbed it before lightly running into the house.

"And where have you been?" Dad said as soon as I stepped into the living room.

"Back off and let me breathe a little, Dad, would ya?"

His eyes widened but I ignored it as Emmett walked it. "Nice umbrella, Nessie," he said, flicking it with his foot as he sat down. "Pretty damn sexy."

"Go die in a hole," I said, punching his arm. "It's Lyla's. Kyle's little sister."

"I am loving that girl more and more," Rosalie said, smiling at the umbrella. "First the dress, now this. She's remarkable."

I laughed. "Relax, Rosalie," I said, opening it and holding it over my head.

She gasped. "Oh, my God, it's adorable!" I smiled, spinning it around like a lace parasol. Her face suddenly fell. "You're going to have to take it back to her tomorrow, aren't you?" she said in a disappointed voice.

"Yeah, I guess I am." A wide smile spread across my face. "I guess I am."