AN: This chapter closes out what I like to think of as the first "book" of this story. Yay! Part one is complete!

I'll begin posting part two mid-week next week, and update twice a week as usual (if I can maintain my lead). Part II is more exciting… while the first half of the story has been very emotion-bound, the second has much more action. I'm not nearly done writing it, but it's already a whole lot of fun.

Thanks for your patience with me as I get back on track after the holidays. I think I've got it down now.

Please review… I'd love your feedback/speculation on what is to come!

Thanks for reading! Enjoy!

~Crit.

Chapter 25: Dealing With Dad

The first thing Jacob noticed upon entering the house was the expression on Bella's face. Their eyes locked immediately and a look of pure remorse flooded across the features of the youngest Cullen vampire. Jacob managed a small, accepting smile, and he saw the relief in his old friend's eyes, and knew that there would be no difficulty dealing with her. The next thing he noticed was that Bella, Carlisle, and Emmett were positioned directly between Edward and the door. And Edward…

Jacob winced. Renesmee's father was standing with his back to them, his shoulders tense and square. Jacob knew that he was either listening to their heads, or stewing over the fact that Bella had blocked them out. He hoped it was the latter, but just in case, he decided to send a very clear mental message. Edward, please just hear us out. Renesmee needs you to listen to her.

"Jacob!" Edward's voice was clear, and loud, and it made Jacob freeze in his tracks. He was immediately on the defensive, ready to bolt at the first sign of violence. "Do not appeal to my fondness for my daughter in an attempt to make this easier on yourself." That cinched it; he was listening.

Renesmee started forward. "Dad, stop it," she said, sounding exasperated.

"Renesmee, stay out of this." Edward turned around as his daughter threw her hands up.

"How can I possibly do that? I'm the subject of all this drama, aren't I?" Edward didn't respond. Jacob figured it was probably because he knew his daughter had a point.

"You gave me your word, Jacob," the vampire said to him. Jacob examined his face. Edward looked horrible. "You and I had an agreement, which you broke."

"I know," Jacob tried his best to look submissive and non-threatening, not an easy feat for a giant man inches away from exploding into a cloud of teeth and claws. This was not the time for a display of machismo, and Jacob's rational side knew it. He needed to grovel, and he needed to do it fast. "I'm sorry about that, Edward. I never meant to break my promise."

"He's telling the truth, Dad," Renesmee added.

"I thought I told you to stay out of this, Renesmee!" His voice was almost a snarl.

"But I—" Jacob gave her a sharp look, and she fell back. Jacob was relieved… it wouldn't do the two of them any good to gang up on Edward.

"Edward," Bella began, "Maybe you should let Jacob exp—"

"This is between me and the wolf," Edward hissed at his wife. He was looking at her, but all the tension in his body was still pointed in Jacob's direction. He cast a glare around the room. "The rest of you can leave now."

"No way, man," Emmett piped up. "We're staying right here."

"Seriously. If you dismantle him inside the house, we'll never get the smell out," Rosalie added.

"Rosalie!" Carlisle gave his adoptive daughter the most chastising look Jacob had ever seen. Rosalie practically shrank beneath it, but quickly recovered her cool with a trademark glower.

"Sorry," She muttered, "Now's the time when we don't use our senses of humor. Got it."

"Fine," Edward said coldly. "Jacob, if you want them to hear what I have to say, then by all means, they can stay here." He took a step forward, and Bella and Emmett moved closer. Edward just shook his head at his wife and brother.

"Edward, if you could just let me talk for one minute…"

"After." Edward's gaze was full of anger and disappointment. "Your kind and mine are, by nature, enemies. You know that. Everybody here knows that. Over the years, I have gotten to know you, Jacob, and I've come to think of you as a part of my family. This has required an incredible amount of open-mindedness and trust on both my part and yours. I put my trust in you when it came to the most important thing in my life: my daughter. And as of today, that trust has been broken."

"Look, I never meant to take advantage of your trust in me…"

Again, Edward cut him off. "But you did. Nearly the minute my back was turned, you forgot your promise to me and did what was best for you. Not only does that display a serious lack of good judgment, but a serious lack of character as well." Jacob felt like a very small child being lectured by an angry parent, and he couldn't help but think back on his arguments with Renesmee. She obviously took after her father, at least when it came to fighting. Except Edward wasn't likely to forgive him for the same reasons she did. "No, I'm not," Edward said, responding directly to his thoughts. "Jacob, our lives are precarious enough without having to doubt those who we surround ourselves with. I asked you to do one thing, out of respect for myself and my family, and you gave me your word that you would do as I asked. I trusted you completely, and you made me look like a fool." He narrowed his eyes. "Do you understand what I'm trying to say?"

Jacob nodded slowly. He felt awful. "I never meant to disrespect you," he said. His alpha instincts were screaming at him to fight back, assert his dominance, take control and stop letting a bloodsucker push him around, but Jacob fought against his impulses. His every nerve sang with discomfort, but he managed a good level of subservience. Edward noticed, and not only from what he could hear in Jacob's mind. Jacob met his eyes again, and then deliberately lowered his gaze and bowed his head. "I apologize for going against my word."

Everyone was silent for a moment. Jacob couldn't tell if all the others in the room understood exactly what it meant for the Alpha of a powerful pack to surrender complete control to a vampire, but he knew that Edward recognized the level of sacrifice and commitment involved.

"Well," said Edward in a low monotone, "Then I trust you won't do it again."

Jacob looked up to see that Edward's entire stance had changed. He still looked extremely unimpressed, but most of the tension had gone out of his frame, and he was no longer poised as if to pounce on Jacob at the first opportunity. As Jacob watched, he thought he saw a hint of satisfaction glinting in the vampire's cool amber eyes, and his jaw nearly dropped. Was this all some bizarre vampire version of scaring your daughter's new boyfriend shitless?

"Possibly," Edward replied. Jacob shook his head with a low, humorless laugh.

"Oh, Goddamnit," he muttered under his breath. Edward's mouth actually turned up at one corner at that exclamation. The vampires seemed to pick up on the change in the air; they all stood down simultaneously, sensing the need for protection was over.

All heads turned suddenly towards Renesmee as she stamped one foot, a look of intense irritation on her face. There was a resounding crack as the floorboard beneath her splintered. "Will somebody tell me what the hell is going on here?" She pointed at her father. "First, you want to kill my… Um, Jacob. And then you," she rounded on Jacob himself, "You think it's a good time to chuckle and curse? If we could keep the majority of this conversation out of our heads and in the open, that'd be just swell." Edward gave his daughter a look that implied he had infinitely more patience than she could be bothered to test.

" 'Your… Jacob' needed a few things pointed out to him before the real discussion could take place," He said cryptically. "Namely, just exactly who he's dealing with." Renesmee's eyebrows flew up so high they were practically in her hairline.

"So that was just, what, some stupid pissing contest?" She darted forward before any of them could catch her and jabbed her finger into her father's chest. "You scared the crap out of me!" Emmett was chuckling, and Jacob had the bizarre urge to join him… after all, it was pretty funny. Edward just stared calmly down at his daughter.

"Fair enough," he said, not even bothering to comment on her language. "Now, if you're quite finished, your mother and I would like to sit down with you and Jacob. Your mother seems to think it's possible for the four of us to discuss this like mature adults. Do you disagree?" Renesmee clamped her mouth shut and, eyes wide, shook her head. "Good," Edward said. "I think it's best if we go upstairs. Carlisle?"

"You may use my office," Carlisle replied. He gave his son a hard look. "We'll be just downstairs." Jacob thought it sounded just a little bit like a warning.

As they climbed the stairs, Jacob heard Rosalie saying, "How come Edward gets to be funny? Does that seem fair to anyone here?" followed by Esme bemoaning her granddaughter's destruction of her beautiful hardwood floor.

Bella and Edward settled on the business side of the doctor's massive desk, leaving Jacob and Renesmee no alternative but to sit in the two chairs on the other side. It was like being in the middle of the world's most intimidating job interview. Jacob squirmed under the cold gaze of the two vampires, neither of whom seemed to be very happy with him, and braced himself for another barrage of disappointment and anger.

"Renesmee," Edward began in a dark tone. Jacob's head snapped towards his imprint; both of her parents were staring her down with looks of extreme discontent. She looked surprised and uncomfortable. Edward shook his head. "We're extremely disappointed in you."

"Wait a minute," Jacob said, unable to help himself, "She didn't do anything wrong…"

"No, Jacob," Bella said, sounding almost as harsh as her husband, "Renesmee needs to hear this, and you need to be quiet and not interrupt." Jacob's mouth snapped shut.

"I don't understand," Renesmee replied, addressing her father. "I know you're not happy, but why…" she put her hands up, not really needing to finish her sentence. Edward frowned.

"You admitted to Esme that you listened in on private conversations between Jacob and myself. It was not your place to do that. And, as Jacob has clearly indicated to Carlisle, you were made fully aware that he and I had an agreement regarding his conduct towards you. Knowing full well that Jacob would face consequences that were at best unpleasant should you choose to act on your feelings, you still proceeded to put him in a position where he had very little control over himself. As far as I am concerned, part of the responsibility for Jacob going back on his word goes to you, Renesmee." He shook his head. "I would have expected much better from you."

Jacob risked a sideways look at Renesmee; she looked horrified at her father's reprimand. "Hold on, Edward," he said, "It's not Nessie's fault."

"It is," Bella replied softly. "Jacob, we know you love Renesmee very much. But you have to allow her to own when she's wrong." She gave her daughter a pointed look.

Renesmee looked like she might burst into tears any moment. "Mom, Dad," she said, and then sighed heavily. "You're right. I've been acting horribly this whole time. I was confused and upset, and I was mean to Jacob because I didn't understand my own feelings. I acted suspicious, and I was sneaky and dishonest." She turned to look at Jacob. "Jake, I'm sorry. I don't know what was wrong with me. It's not like me to act that way, and I hate that I was so focused on what I needed that I made you break your word."

Jacob shook his head, and then after a short moment's pause, reached over and took her hands in his. Edward and Bella could deal with it… Renesmee needed him. "Nessie, it's okay. Don't feel bad…"

"No," to his surprise, she pulled her hands away. Then she looked at her parents. "I get it now, what you're trying to tell me. Jake," she looked back towards him, "I know you're going to tell me it's okay, but it really isn't. I shouldn't have disregarded what you were trying to tell me the way I did. I should have listened to you. Just because you forgive me doesn't mean it wasn't wrong of me to do it."

Confused, Jacob placed his hands in his lap and tried not to feel rejected. "I'm always going to forgive you, Nessie."

"That's the whole point," she said, shaking her head. "I can't be exempt from the rules just because you care so much about me. That is what my parents are trying to point out."

Jacob looked over at the two vampires. Bella was watching her daughter with an open display of pride. Edward was a bit more stoic, but Jacob could tell that he was also impressed by his daughter's words. "I think you've got the gist of it," he said in a voice that was much kinder than the one he'd been using before. Bella made a positive sound of agreement.

"I think we can all agree that people sometimes act a little crazy when they're in love," she said, looking pointedly at both Jacob and Edward in turn. "It's not an excuse," she was quick to add, "It's just a fact."

"Can I just say something?" Renesmee piped up. Edward motioned for her to continue. "I get that you guys are upset with us. But I'm also kind of upset with you. I can't believe my whole family hid something so important from me. What you said earlier about being able to trust people? That works both ways. I never thought I'd have any reason to distrust any of you, and now I have to wonder what else you've kept secret from me for my entire life. And no," she said quickly at the sign that Edward was about to interrupt her, "I don't want to hear that it was for my own good. I'm old enough now to see what's good for me, and that's being with Jacob. The way we're supposed to be. So yeah, Dad, I can accept that I put Jacob in a horrible position with you. But you put him in a horrible position with me. I don't blame him for not telling me, not when you were all ready to take him to bits if he even so much as hinted at the infamous 'I-word'." Jacob could do nothing but watch, stunned, as Renesmee defended him. He wanted to tell her to stop, that she'd only make things worse with Edward and Bella, that it wasn't that bad… But to be honest, he kind of wanted them to hear it. She had a point.

Edward's eyes darted to Jacob, and her knew the vampire was listening to his head again. When he looked back at his daughter, his face was less pleased, yet settled into an expression of acceptance. "In the interest of fairness, I'll concede this point to you, Renesmee," he said graciously. "Your argument is valid. I compelled Jacob to act in a way that was contrary to all his natural instincts, and it included being secretive and dishonest towards you. I should have found some other way to handle the situation, and I apologize for not making an attempt at a better solution. Jacob, I'm sorry." He polished the whole speech off with a look that clearly said 'So There'. Jacob, for his part, was shocked beyond belief. Bella also looked pretty gobsmacked. Evidently, Edward didn't apologize much, although he was so good at it you'd think he never did anything but.

"That's… um, it's cool, Edward," Jacob said eloquently. He looked at Renesmee, expecting her to fall to pieces at her father's graceful admission of guilt.

She did not. As Jacob watched, her eyes narrowed and focused on her father, and she nodded. "I'm glad you feel that way, Dad," she said, and Jacob knew she meant it honestly. But something else was up. What was she doing? Clearly, Edward didn't know either. He watched his daughter with a mixture of sternness and foreboding. "Now that we know where everybody stands, we can make a new deal." She sat forward in her chair, leaning towards the desk and her parents. "Jacob told me everything, obviously, about how you threatened to remove him from my life if he broke the little deal you two made. Now, I know how you like to follow through on the things you say, dad, but that obviously isn't going to happen in this situation. If anything, my guilt and your guilt cancel each other out. So the way I see it, we're square now." She sat back and spread her hands, palms up. "Clean slate?"

It wasn't often that Jacob got to see Edward looking surprised, so he allowed himself to thoroughly enjoy it. The fact that it was his Imprint putting the vampire in such a state only made it that much more delightful. Edward scowled briefly before rearranging his face into its usual impassive mask. "Only if Jacob agrees to stop mentally celebrating at my discomfort," he said tightly. Jacob couldn't help but let out a short burst of laughter; he could see that Bella was having a hard time keeping it under wraps as well. "All right, Renesmee," Edward continued. "You've talked a good line. I accept your proposal. Consider your slate, and Jacob's, officially clean where I am concerned. Bella?" Bella nodded quickly and surely.

"But I think, for all our sakes, there need to be some ground rules," she was quick to qualify. Jacob nodded his agreement. Renesmee shrugged.

"Okay. Like what?" She said.

"Jacob stays in the pack house, and you stay in the cottage with us." Bella didn't look like she was willing to budge on that one. Renesmee made a face.

"Don't you think that's a little absurd?" She said flatly. Her mother just gave her a look that left no room for negotiation.

"For the sake of all of our sanity, and out of respect for your father and I, I think you can live separately for a couple days."

Renesmee clearly didn't like it, but she wasn't going to argue, Jacob noted with relief. "Well, we weren't planning on staying together anyway," she muttered.

"What else?" Jacob jumped in, eager to show Bella and Edward that he was on the same page as them. He knew Renesmee might not like it, but he figured it could only help the situation if he sucked up to her parents a little bit.

Edward pursed his lips. "I'd like for you both to meet separately with Carlisle, so he can give you a full physical examination. We need to know if there are any potential complications or difficulties with regards to your… physical relationship." He looked pained as he spat out the last couple words. In fact, none of them looked particularly comfortable to be discussing the subject. But Jacob knew Edward had a point, and he wanted to make sure Renesmee was healthy and safe as much as her father did.

"It's fine with me, as long as it's fine with Nessie," He said, casting her a quick look. She nodded pleasantly enough.

"It's probably a good idea. Awkward, but a good idea, still."

They spent a while longer hammering out the details of how Renesmee and Jacob were to conduct themselves during their visit. Renesmee was very adamant that she and Jacob would be returning to New York City as planned, and Bella and Edward accepted her demands as graciously as they could. They scheduled a weekly phone conference between all four parties, and agreed that Renesmee and Jacob would make the trip home for the weekend at least once every two months. It was decided that, from that point onward, they would all operate on a system of full disclosure, to help avoid any further emotional catastrophes. Outside of the details of their physical relationship, which would of course remain private.

When, at last, the atmosphere had cleared and everybody was beginning to relax, Edward stood, came around the desk, and opened his arms to his daughter. After a moment of hesitation, Renesmee leapt to her feet and flew into her father's embrace, burying her face in the pale skin between his neck and shoulder. Jacob averted his eyes to give them their private moment. "Thank you, Daddy," he heard Renesmee whisper before she let go of her father.

Edward turned to Jacob then, and Jacob extended his hand to the vampire. Edward took it, and to Jacob's surprise, pulled him into an embrace as well. Jacob just stood there for a moment before awkwardly patting the vampire on his hard back. "Um… thanks, Edward, for being cool. Eventually." Edward surprised him yet again by chuckling softly.

"Don't let us down," He said. It didn't sound as much like a threat as Jacob would have expected. He nodded soberly.

"I won't."

Jacob gave an internal sigh of relief as he and Renesmee started for the door. She moved as close to him as was appropriate and slid her hand discreetly into his. It hit Jacob suddenly that they were home-free: No more vampires to worry about, no angry dads or murderous moms. Their relationship was out in the open, and they were going to be okay. And, baring any disasters when they met with Carlisle, they'd be free to have a healthy physical relationship as well. Jacob made a mental note to ask Renesmee's grandfather about doctor-patient confidentiality… he didn't think it would be good if Bella and Edward found out about their little biting adventure, but it probably needed to be discussed.

"She did WHAT?" Edward shrieked from behind the closed office door. Jacob flinched. Renesmee's hand was now gripping his with a force that would have been painful, were he not a three-hundred pound shapeshifter.

"What did you think?" She hissed as they stopped in their tracks. Jacob gave her a sheepish smile.

"I love you?" Renesmee groaned.

"I could kill you, Jacob Black."

Edward was still raging on the other side of the door. "Renesmee Carlie Cullen, you get back in here this minute."

Jacob sighed as Renesmee glared accusingly at him before heading back into the office. It was going to be a very long weekend.

End Part I.

In Part II of "In Search of The Sun:

NYU'S newest student… dream interpretation… Imprinting… New friends & old enemies… and more!

Thanks for reading! Please review!