The next chapter is here; the birthday party from Renesmee's point of view. I'd like to take the time now, though, to say a special word of thanks to a reader by the name of Stacey, for giving me my first "very very long" review. I am beyond grateful...thank you so much Stacey. I really appreciate the time and effort you took to give me a thorough review, including both the things you liked about the story as well as what you felt needed some work. And I am definitely taking into consideration what you mentioned about Jacob/Renesmee, and I have made changes to the original manuscript to redirect, as you said, the whole "too early" situation. Guys, I really appreciate it when you take the time to offer input to the story regarding things that you feel need to be changed around, or mentioning things that perhaps don't dovetail too well with SM's original intent. This story is meant to be a continuation to Breaking Dawn, so I'm definitely trying to follow in her footsteps and be as true to the characters as possible. Thanks again, Stacey!! You rock!!
Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight or any of the original characters. The wonderful and talented Stephenie Meyer does.
Chapter 11
The Party- by Renesmee Part 2
As we drew closer to the clearing by the big house, I could hear all sorts of shuffling and whispers coming from inside. The moment we set foot on the lawn, the front door opened, and in the frame stood a figure partially wrapped in sparkly black. The figure didn't stay there for more than a third of a second, though.
Alice dashed down the steps and flew across the lawn to us, coming to a sudden stop only when it looked as though she was going to careen right into us. She clasped her hands together in front of her as she took us in with her eyes.
"Oh, just look at you two! Bella, you are a vision from heaven. . .and Nessie!" she gushed. "Just look at you, turn around, let me see you, oh you're so perfect, Jake's going to love you…well of course you don't have to worry—"
Mommy cut her off. "Jake's here already?" she inquired. Alice nodded. Then she squealed as she ran around behind me to cover my eyes. "Oh Bella, you're gorgeous. I can't wait to see Edward's face when he sees you in that dress. He'll be thanking me for the next decade!" She spoke to me now. "You're going to love all the decorations; I modeled them after one of the bedrooms you designed when you were drawing a few weeks ago. And everybody's here, of course, no one wanted to miss your first birthday—you're growing up so fast!" I smiled. It seemed my entire party was themed after my bedroom designs. That was neat. "Okay, no peeking; we're almost there." She guided me up the front steps carefully, while my heart strummed so quickly there was no differentiation at all between the beats.
I sensed when we stepped inside the door, but what I wasn't prepared for was just how loud everyone was going to be.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!" The sound of the shout shook the door frame under my feet and sent vibrations through me. I jumped slightly.
Alice uncovered my eyes and I looked around the room, blushing as I realized the amount of people present. The first person my eyes fell on was Jacob, the tallest of them all by at least a foot and the most familiar to me. Any remaining pre-party jitters I might have had disappeared at once when our eyes met. I quickly scanned the rest of the room. All the men in my family stood behind the large white sofa, and off to their left stood the women with Grandpa Charlie. Beside them was the wolf pack, and I laughed when I saw Seth waving at me like a madman. If he wasn't careful his hand just might go flying across the room any moment now. Off to my right stood my cousins; Kate, Tanya, Eleazar, and Carmen, who had come down from Denali.
My eyes flashed back to Jacob as he rushed toward me and swept me up into a bear hug.
"How's my favorite girl in the whole world doing?" he asked, a bright sunny grin on his face.
"Great," I replied, beaming in return. His woodsy smell was like a drug; it made me insanely happy anytime I breathed it in. Still in his arms, I looked over his shoulder and saw Alice glaring. Uh oh. I squirmed.
"Put me down, Jake." I said. "You're gonna mess up my dress."
Alice appeared beside me and smirked. "That's my niece," she said proudly. Then she scowled at Jacob. "You ought to know better than to mess with a Cullen girl's dress."
Jacob laughed. "So what do you think of your palace, your highness?" he asked playfully.
I grinned. "I love it. It's perfect. I'm just glad I finally get to see what all the fuss was about—Alice was driving me insane, locking me out of the house like that."
Alice pouted beside me. "You couldn't see it yet, Nessie," she said in a whiney voice. "I could hardly make it a surprise in the first place, with everyone talking nonstop about your birthday coming up, so the least I could do was keep you from seeing what it looked like until the actual day."
I smiled reassuringly at her. "Its okay, Alice. It's more than perfect. I'd never have imagined it would look this beautiful—not in my wildest dreams." Jacob grinned and tickled my neck. I ducked my chin, trapping his fingers between my collar bone and jaw.
"Why don't we go say hi to everyone?" he asked, pulling me into his side. I nodded eagerly, my anticipation leaking through although I was trying to appear calm and nonchalant.
We walked toward the crowd, where everyone was still standing, waiting patiently and politely for their turn to greet the birthday girl. I noticed something.
"Where's Billy?" I asked Jake, craning my neck to see his face instead of his armpit, as I was still tucked deep into his waist. His arm tightened around me and his face grew serious.
"Um, he. . .didn't feel so well after all. He's sorry he couldn't make it," he said, staring straight ahead. I frowned, but decided it was better not to press the issue right now. Jacob looked upset about something, and I guessed it was about Billy. Now was definitely not the time to question him. I could bombard him with my queries later.
I was passed from arm to arm, hugged, kissed, oohed and aahed over, and the whole nine yards. I had to admit, it did make me feel better about my appearance. At least they thought I looked nice.
Grandpa Charlie grabbed me up into a hug. "Hey, kiddo, happy birthday," he said, patting my head. "Rosalie got to ya, didn't she?"
I nodded. "Me and Mommy both."
"Well, you look great."
He laughed his crinkly eyed laugh and let go of me. He hadn't picked me up; over these last six months I'd grown so heavy that only my immediate—vampire—family was ever able to budge me off the ground if I didn't want to move. And the werewolves, of course.
As soon as I was free of everyone else's hands, Jacob pulled me back into his side. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and sighed as we all went into the dining room. A few moments later, Grandpa Charlie showed up, followed by a smug looking father of mine and a very embarrassed looking Mommy. I wondered what had happened for her to have that expression. Jacob looked as though he was wondering the same thing.
Grandpa Carlisle lit the candles on my cake. The cake was as big as two basketballs put together, and had white icing with pink trim. It looked good, now the question was would it taste good—or would it just be like all the other horrid human foods—a ball of flavorless slime making its way slowly down my throat.
I blew out the candles, which were two question marks. Emmett laughed.
"How old are you now…how old are you now….." he sang. I punched him. No one knew how old I really was, because of my accelerated growth. Grandpa Carlisle didn't let a day go by where he didn't spend hours poring over the computer screen and old books, looking for some sort of clue as to the genetic reasons behind the phenomenon. Mommy didn't think there was a genetic reason. She felt it was simply supernatural, and not something to really be questioned.
I suspected the real reason was because she didn't want me to be the subject of any more of Grandpa Carlisle's experiments. I didn't mind them—that much. Most of them were boring, but a few were interesting, and even fun. It depended on what I had to do, which was usually just stretch this way or that, read bigger upon bigger books, and take something he called a standardized test. He said the human children in schools took those every year, and that he was using them to determine my psychological development. As soon as I saw something once, I knew how to do it, and as a result the constant repetition was beginning to bore me. He couldn't find new material fast enough to suit the pace I was learning at. At least it was fun when I was given something new to figure out.
Then it was time for presents.
Everyone gave me beautiful things, but the most special of all was from Grandpa Charlie and Sue. Their gift was an afghan with a wolf woven into it, and my name was stitched just below the massive shoulders of the russet wolf. It was beautiful. I planned to go to sleep with it tonight.
Tanya and Kate gave me a bath set, joking about how since I was the only member of my family who needed to take a bath, I could make myself smell extra nice for "the boys" once I "start school." Both my dad and Jacob growled at them. I couldn't help rolling my eyes and laughing. When was I going to meet a boy? And if I did, what difference would it make? It wasn't like he could ever do anything to me.
It's a little hard to harm a girl who can take down a full grown bull elk, don't you think? I thought for my father's benefit. The corner of his mouth curved up into the crooked smile I'd known all my life.
Then it was Emmett and Aunt Rosie's turn. She stepped forward and turned to me.
"Nessie, angel, your Auntie Rose got you the best present of them all," she said in a sweet, sing-songy voice. It was the kind of voice used with babies, like the one she used with me when I was first born.
I watched her with anticipation. Whatever Aunt Rosie had planned, it would be good. I could see it written all over her face. I inched forward, but Jake's arm was still welded to my side.
"Does anyone here know what Nessie here has been dying to have for about a month now?" she asked the crowd, looking around.
A few grumbles followed that sounded like no's. Jake didn't appear oblivious, though. He elbowed me and grinned. He knew? That wasn't fair. I racked my brain for what I had wanted recently, but came up blank. I had everything I wanted. A beautiful family, a wonderful home, and the best and furriest friends the world had to offer. I even had a pet now.
No, I couldn't think of what it could've been that I'd wanted.
Aunt Rosie opened her mouth to continue, but Emmett stepped in front of her, cutting her off. She gave him a glare that would have melted pure iron. He rubbed her arm soothingly.
Emmett had a familiar look in his eyes—one that always promised mischief. "Relax, babe," he said. "I just wanna hear something from Bella first."
Mommy turned to look at him with an expression of distrust painted on her flawless features. He turned toward her.
"Bella. . .what kind of car did Nessie say she liked?" he asked, a wicked grin stretching across his face.
Uh-oh.
"I don't know," she replied, sounding rather annoyed. "A Mozzarella Grand Toronto or something like that, I don't really remember." She ducked her head.
Loud guffaws shook the foundation of the house and Emmett doubled over laughing. Everyone else wasn't much better off. Jake had to hold his sides as a tear slipped from the corner of his eye and rolled down his russet colored cheek. A giggle escaped my lips, but I sobered up pretty quickly when I caught sight of the emotion building in her.
She straightened up and crossed her arms. I shot my father a worried look, but he was laughing just as hard as Emmett and the rest of the men and boys in the room.
Well. He might not be able to read Mommy's mind most of the time, but I could read her face like an open book. And I also knew what was coming next. The only reason Aunt Rosie would ask the question she had and be followed up by Emmett and car models. . .was. . .
"You know I don't give a crap about cars," Mommy interrupted my thoughts loudly. "Or anything else mechanical, for that matter. How would you expect me to remember a name that complicated anyway?"
Here it comes, I thought.
Aunt Rosie was still laughing when she answered. "I have to admit, Bella, that was worth being interrupted for. It was absolutely hilarious." She laughed a moment more. "For the record, it's a Maserati GranTurismo. And I bought one for Nessie."
I melted back further into the wall, shrinking into Jacob's side as the fury crept into my mother's face. Uncle Jasper darted to her side and gripped the tops of her arms with a force I knew would have crushed anything else besides one of us.
"Why. On. God's. Good. Earth. Would. You. Do. That.?" She asked between her teeth. "I specifically told you—all of you—that Nessie is not to be behind the operating area of any type of vehicle for at least the next six months."
Aunt Rosie was entirely unaffected by the very real possibility of having her head ripped off in front of all our guests. I remembered all too well when Mommy had lunged at Jake nearly a year ago, angered over something he had said. What could he possibly have done to elicit such a response from her? I wondered about that. I'd never had it explained, though I had asked at the time. I focused back in on the present moment.
"I know that, Bella," Aunt Rosie said coolly. "I didn't go against your will. The car isn't here. She won't be able to drive it until you allow her to, and all I have here is the title to the car in her name. Well, her alias, anyhow."
I saw my mother's features relax just the tiniest bit as she began to breathe again. She murmured something quickly to Jasper, but because I hadn't been listening for it, I missed what it was she said. Whatever it was, though, made him let go of her and take a step back, but I could see that he still monitored her every emotion carefully.
"Okay," she said. "So what's her alias?"
Aunt Rosie rolled her eyes and cut Mommy a glare. "You gave it to her," she said, an edge of annoyance in her voice now. "Vanessa Wolfe."
Mommy looked embarrassed. "Oh," she said awkwardly, and I saw that all the anger was gone. Aunt Rosie smiled and turned to me. I hadn't realized I had been inching forward these last few moments, but the distance was much shorter than I'd expected as I dashed forward and jumped into her arms.
"Oh yay! Thank you so much Aunt Rosie! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" I cried.
She laughed and kissed the top of my head. "You're welcome, Ness," she said, giving me a squeeze.
Daddy stepped forward. "I believe it's time for our gift." He gathered me up in his arms.
"Cover your eyes," he said, and then paused. "No, Alice, it's only fair that I'm allowed to do the honors for this one."
Alice pouted. Mommy shot him a questioning look, and he chuckled quietly. "Alice wanted to be able to cover her eyes," he told her.
I threw my hands over my eyes as I felt us glide away from where we stood. Anticipation and excitement filled my stomach with butterflies, and I couldn't stop giggling the entire way. I made an attempt to figure out where we were going, but after the first step, the ride was so smooth if it hadn't been for the cool air rushing over my skin I would never have guessed we were in motion.
About four or five seconds later he set me gently on my feet.
"Can I open my eyes now?" I asked tensely. It took all my willpower to keep from bouncing up and down on my heels. I heard soft footsteps come up beside me, and smelled the familiar, lovely scent of freesia that was unmistakably my mother.
"Not yet," Daddy said. "This gift is from your mother and I, and we want you to take good care of it and use it well. Practice every day, and soon it will pay off."
Practice?
"Probably knows how to use the thing already, little braniac that she is," Emmett muttered from behind me.
What were they talking about? I would explode if I didn't get an answer within the next three seconds, I was certain of it.
I heard Daddy chuckle as he heard my impatience in my thoughts.
"Open your eyes now," Mommy's soft voice told me.
I jerked my hands away from my eyes and scanned the room. We were in the back room, the one that Emmett and Jasper used to play video games. They didn't allow my Daddy to play against them; claiming he cheated because he knew which moves they would use next. It was the same in wrestling and chess.
In the middle of the room, the television had been moved, and in its place stood a white baby grand piano. On the side was painted with a flourish Renesmee C. Cullen. The piano bench was white and cushioned, with knobs for feet and silver lining around the stitching on the edges.
My hands flew up to cover my mouth as I stood there speechless for a long moment. It was magnificent.
I slowly walked up to it and ran my hand along the smooth, shiny cover.
"It was your mother's idea," Daddy said.
I couldn't open my mouth. I was in such awe, such wonder—I was so enraptured by the perfect beauty of the gift that all I could do was think. And my brain raced away at a million miles a minute.
It's perfect, so perfect, I thought. The color, my name. . .I couldn't have wished for more.
My thoughts grew more earnest as my gratitude deepened. What was it Daddy had said? It was my mother's idea?
Thank you so much, Mommy, I thought in earnest as I pictured her standing there behind me.
"You're welcome," she said quietly. My head snapped up. Oh dear, I hadn't even said a word of thanks aloud; I'd just stared at the piano as though I were a mute. How rude of me. And now she'd had to remind me in front of everyone by saying "You're welcome," before I'd even said anything. Where were my manners? I blushed fiercely.
"Thank you Mommy," I said quickly. "I'm sorry I didn't say it before."
She looked at me strangely. "Yes, you did," she said. "That's why I said you're welcome." She glanced over at my dad meaningfully.
He was staring at her, his eyes wide and frozen with some strange expression that strongly resembled shock.
Okay. . .this was getting weird.
Apparently Mommy thought so, too.
"What?" She asked, growing uncomfortable. I turned to look at everyone else. They all had expressions ranging from confused to stunned. Interestingly, the vampires all had stunned looks, and everyone else besides Jacob and Seth looked entirely perplexed by their little exchange.
"You heard that?" Daddy asked incredulously.
"Um, yeah… she said it loud and clear," Mommy replied, fidgeting with the edge of her dress. Well. No, I hadn't, but it didn't make any sense to me, so I dismissed the thought for later. I'd wreck my brain over it when everyone had left.
"No, she—," Daddy began. He thought for a moment, but then appeared to change his mind about what he had been planning to say. "It's just that she said it very quietly. Let's see what Jacob has for her. Jacob?" he called. "I believe it is your turn now."
I had eyes only for my wolf.
Jacob walked forward slowly, a huge smile stretching his face from ear to ear. He held one hand behind his back as he approached me. Ever so slowly, he knelt down in front of me until his eyes were level with mine.
"Close your eyes," he instructed.
I squeezed my eyes shut as tightly as they would go and hopped from foot to foot.
"Now hold out your hand," he continued. I shoved my left hand out at him, palm up and flat. I felt him grip my hand to steady it and a soft paper brushed the inside of my hand.
"Open them?" I asked.
"NO!" he said in a harsh whisper. I frowned. "Not yet." His voice was softer this time, but had a hint of mischief in it.
"Aww," I whined. I held still and waited for whatever might come next. But I hadn't been expecting to feel him come nearer to me. I heard someone's teeth snap together in annoyance. Suddenly, a pair of wet, sloppy lips smushed themselves against my cheek and I jumped back in surprise, wiping frantically at my face with my free hand.
"Ewwwwww! Gross, Jake!" I cried, laughing. I heard his deep laugh in front of my face and then off to the side. Was he falling over with laughter? The nerve! I'd get him back for that.
His laugh appeared to be directly in front of me again, and his voice trembled a little as he tried to contain the last few chuckles. "Happy Birthday, Nessie," he said. "You can open your eyes now."
I wasted no time in obeying. My eyes fell on the green package in my hands, and I quickly tore the ribbon off and held it in my teeth as I shredded the rest of the paper. There was something brown and partially round inside.
I pulled away the last bit of paper and found the most beautiful dream catcher I had ever laid eyes on. I had seen these when I visited Jacob and Seth on the reservation; they hung in his room by his bed and one was even above the door in his house. Of course I hadn't had an easy time getting over there; my father still made a fuss about Jacob and I being best friends, but Mommy had sent him on a round of guilt trips until he finally allowed me. Even then, he insisted on escorting Jake and I to the treaty borderline, and was always there waiting for me when it was time to return home.
I looked now at the dream catcher I held in my hands. The wood was the exact same color as Jake's skin, and had tiny wolf paw prints engraved in it. Long eagle feathers hung from the base of the leather straps at the side, which were beaded.
"Wow, Jake, it's beautiful," I whispered. "Did you make it?"
He nodded. I fingered the net inside the circular portion of the catcher and then looked up to meet his eyes.
I was suddenly overcome by emotion. What had I ever done to deserve such a great family and such a wonderful, loyal best friend? Thank you. . .thank you, thank you, thank you, I breathed silently as I threw my arms around his neck. He stiffened for a moment.
"Thank you, Jakey," I said into his shoulder. He relaxed and rubbed my back.
"You're welcome."
"My turn!" Seth sang suddenly, bouncing across the room and grabbing my hand. "Come on, its outside. We'll show you, 'cuz it's from all of us La Push boys."
He pulled me towards the door.
"Do I have to close my eyes again?" I inquired.
"Nope," Seth replied cheerfully. "It's hidden around the corner of the house anyway, so it doesn't really matter."
"Yes!" I whispered under my breath. There was a collective chuckle from those behind me.
We had stepped outside and as we rounded the corner of the house, I stopped short. My hands flew to my mouth and, much to my embarrassment, something came out that sounded much like the squeak of a chipmunk. But I was in both shock and awe.
A gigantic wooden structure stood in front of me, built onto the corner of the house. Bars crisscrossed back and forth the entire way up, and inside, more branches stuck out as perches. On one of these perches sat my new little pet, Hyacinth. I smiled at her.
"Hyacinth. Hello there, missy. Are you hungry?" I asked. She cheeped in response and tilted her small brown head to the side. I bent down and plucked a blade of grass.
Straightening up, I pushed it through the bars to her and she snatched it from me, flying back to the opposite end of the cage and landing there. She looked down at me from her perch, scolding me noisily in cheeps and chitters. I laughed. It was all so wonderful.
I turned to Seth and bounced into his arms, hugging him with all my might. It was a good thing he was a werewolf or that might have been a very dangerous idea. I hugged Quil next, and then Embry, before picking up Claire and spinning her around. She giggled and wrapped her arms around my leg when I put her down again.
I turned to everyone standing behind me. They were all watching me, their eyes full of love.
"Thanks so much, everybody," I said, beaming. "It was wonderful. I loved it, and my presents are so sweet. Thank you, everyone."
"And now," Jacob announced, "It's time for CAKE!" Aunt Rosie gave him a look that told everyone she didn't approve of him dictating the party program. In fact, it said something more along the lines that she strongly disapproved. He rolled his eyes.
"Give it a rest, Blondie," he muttered under his breath. I giggled.
We filed back into the dining room and I took my place at the head of the table with Jake by my side. Grandma Esme handed me a knife, and Alice stood in front of me, digital camera ready. Emmett was already filming with the camcorder. I blushed.
"Ready?" asked Grandpa Carlisle. I nodded. As if on cue, all the voices in the house rose together in song.
"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Nessie, happy birthday to you!" I grinned from ear to ear as I sank the heavy knife into the soft chocolate cake. I noticed Jake watching me with more interest than was really necessary. No, he wasn't watching me, I noticed. I had to laugh. His eyes were fixed on the cake.
"Stupid mutt looks like he wants to eat the cake before it's even cut," Aunt Rosie muttered under her breath. Jacob turned to glare at her.
I took advantage of the distraction, and in one swift movement I swiped a bit of vanilla frosting on my finger and smeared it across his cheek and on his nose. He looked genuinely startled.
Take that, Mister Wet Sloppy Kisser.
"Hey!" He laughed and wiped his face with his hand, dramatically licking his fingers off one by one. I laughed until my stomach hurt when I saw the look Aunt Rosie was giving him for doing that. He waggled his fingers in her direction.
"Want some, Blondie?" he asked suggestively. She made a gagging sound and turned away from him.
"Not if I was on the brink of death, would I ever accept anything from you, mongrel," she sneered.
"Too bad the feeling's not mutual," he replied tartly. "Cause you make a mean doggie dish whenever Esme cooks steak."
Aunt Rosie hissed, looking as though she wanted to tear his throat out. My amusement quickly turned to worry. I knew she had a fiery temper.
No, no no no no no. It's not worth it, please don't ruin my party, I begged internally. She froze, and slowly turned to look at me. Her eyes softened as the angry glint faded, and she offered me a smile. Then she turned back to Jacob. "You're lucky to have someone who actually cares for you sticking up for you, dog." She huffed and turned away again, sashaying over to where Alice and Esme stood and making conversation with them.
The rest of the evening passed uneventfully, and I was more than pleased to discover I had a new favorite food. Chocolate cake. It was one of the best things I had ever tasted. Grandma Esme didn't try to hide her pleasure at my response to the cake. She beamed from ear to ear the entire party, and if it was possible, she glowed even more when I went back for my second and third slices. I decided I could eat chocolate cake for the rest of my life and never grow tired of it. Of course, I'd need a delicious dose of blood every now and again in between to balance out the flavors. But I had definitely discovered a treat.
We played games afterward, and Pin the Tail on the Donkey was my favorite. Oddly enough, Claire won every time. Quil could scarcely contain himself each time she beat Embry. Apparently they had a bet going. I enjoyed all the games immensely and Jacob never left my side. Somewhere in the middle of a game of Pictionary, my eyes began to grow heavy and I felt the images I was sending Jake start to fuzz around the edges and slip out of my grasp. My hand slipped off his face, where it had been pressed to his cheek for the last five rounds, and I felt my head droop onto his shoulder as I dropped off into a blissful slumber. Images of pianos, dream catchers, a little dark haired girl with a blindfold on, and taking myself another slice of chocolate cake flickered through my mind in colorful slides.
The last thing I heard before I drifted off was the sounds of my family's laughter, reverberating off the walls of my mind and echoing deep in my heart.
A/N: There you go!! The next chapter! I'm sorry it took so long to get it up; I would have had it posted maybe three days ago, but was having some sort of weird complications, and I kept getting an error message saying it couldn't convert my file. But hey, its up now. So hah! *sticks tongue out at malfunctioning technology*
I hope you all enjoyed it!! Please review and let me know what you think!!!
Love, Cahryn K.
