Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight


Chapter Twenty-Nine

*Renesmee's POV*

A month has past and it's December now. New York was covered in a thin blanket of white snow, christmas lights strung up and down the streets, and we're still worrying about Serena. There has been no sign of her and the clock is ticking.

For a month now Nahuel and Jen have trained us to become better fighters. My skills especially have improved tremendously. I think I can kick butt pretty well, not trying to sound all cocky and what not, but I've gotten pretty good at fighting.

Besides learning how to fight, I've also still had to deal with the constant reminder that Jacob and Nahuel were both fighting for me. I try to ignore it. I've been moving on, like Lily mentioned. I even went double dating with her and this guy Austin. Speaking of Lily, she's moved on. It seems like her and Austin are dating considering she hasn't spoken to Ethan since their disagreement.

Ethan hasn't been his normal self. He's been locking himself up in a room trying to research everything he can about defeating Serena and just getting his brother back. He's the one in the family trying to figure out this whole prophecy thing, even teaching himself this ancient language. I barley see Ethan leave the study anymore. Masen gets him out some days to go play ball at the park or something, but I can tell even Masen's getting annoyed that his best friend has been acting like this.

"Don't you just love this time of the year?" Grace hummed as we walked down the streets covered in snow. It crunched under our feet as we made our way home. It was the day before Christmas Eve and we just got off for our two week long winter break.

I couldn't wait to relax. Maybe not worry about this stupid Serena thing. Since there's been no sign of her I've been having normal teenage fun. I went to see the tree in Rockefeller center, went ice skating there, and even took a trip upstate to go skiing and tubing with the others one weekend to Lisa's cabin. Of course Rosalie and Emmett had to come with us, pretending to be our elder siblings and stuff, which wasn't terrible but it was a bit annoying. Jen and Seth tagged along too. Aunt Rose and Uncle Emmett are pretty cool so we had a fun time all in all.

"It's pretty great," I agreed, closing my eyes and letting the snowflakes hit my face ever so softly.

"So, are you joining us for Christmas Eve Gracie girl?" Lily asked as we approached the town houses. They were strung head to toe in lights galore. We probably had the fanciest Christmas decorations on the block, thanks to Aunt Alice.

"I think so, my mom has to finish up some last minute stuff so we get Christmas together. Esme said it was okay," Grace mentioned.

As I listened to my best friend talk, I noticed Jacob. He just got back from Forks. He was visiting his family and checking up with the pack's update on Serena. Jake was wearing his leather jacket and jeans, pulling his motorcycle into the garage. His eyes wandered to me and I felt my breathing halt. Even if our dating status right now was questionable, I miss him. He was my best friend and my protector. He used to be my whole life. Everything about him made me feel safe.

It was a day like this he told me he loved me. The snow falling softly around us. It makes the thought of not talking to him for a month extremely painful. I needed to talk to him. Say something. It was killing me.

Besides Jacob, I haven't talked to my dad since our fight. We've been walking on egg shells around each other. That's all we do and I could tell it was killing my mom to see us like this. I could tell this was messing our whole family.

I tugged my knit cap down on my head tighter as the others rushed into the house to stay warm.

"Ness, you coming inside?" Aidan asked.

"In a bit, one second," I told him, my eye contact not breaking from Jacob's.

I walked over to him and for a moment the two of us didn't say anything. The only thing that was audible were our breathing and our heart beats. Mine was pounding rapidly against my chest and his did the same in response. I could feel his heat radiating off his body and smell his rustic scent. God, did I miss this.

"Hey," I finally managed to say something to him.

"Hey," He said back. We both awkwardly stood there in the snow, waiting for something to happen.

"How have you been?" I asked him, trying to break the awkwardness. "How was Billy, Rachel, and Paul?"

"They're good. Pretty good," He replied. "Paul's proposing to her for Christmas."

"That's great," I exclaimed, touching his arm briefly. Rachel and Paul were a cute couple and every time I've ever talked to them they were really nice to me. I'm a little shocked sometimes to learn that Paul was a complete hot head back in the day. He's become such a sweetie now. "Really. I'm happy for them."

"Yeah…I am too," he said, looking down at his arm. I notice my hand's still on it and quickly I pull it away. "So how's training? You seem like you've improved a lot," Jake mentioned.

"Yeah. I want to be prepared. She almost got me last time. You remember at the park? When we went to hang out at central park..."

"Oh right. I remember. She attacked us a few times in the past few months," Jacob mumbled. He then noticed something at my neck. He raised his hand up and pointed at it, "You're wearing the wolf charm I gave you."

I looked down to see the necklace dangling against my chest. I touch it briefly and smile a little. I always wore this or my locket when I needed to feel safe. I don't really know why I chose the pendant though. Maybe it's because I needed luck with the whole Jacob and Nahuel situation.

"Yeah, I am," I replied, sighing as I hold it tightly to my chest. "I got to go now, meet the others inside."

"Alright. See you then," Jacob replied. I nodded before rushing into the house again, feeling embarrassed.

"I won't be around for Christmas. I'll be going out with my mom to Rockefeller Center for the whole day, but we should totally celebrate New Years together," Grace said as she and the others gathered around the kitchen table. "Lisa, Dylan, and I were talking. One of us wants to have a small party or something for it."

"Actually New Years is Masen's birthday," I pointed out, looking at him begin to chuckle.

"Turning the big four," He said, sipping some blood from a canteen. "Aunt Alice is throwing a party here, if you all want they can come too. We could have the party here too."

"Wow, I didn't know you were a New Years baby," Grace teased. Masen chuckled again.

"Born exactly at midnight on January 1st. I was a surprise for my family."

"He was," Lizzy added. "I should've been the only surprise being the eldest Lux Lamia."

"Oh wow, I always forget you are older than Masen." Aidan laughed.

"Really?" Jen asked, chuckling. "I didn't know that."

"It's because stupid Lux Lamia's make the guys grow extremely fast," Lizzy grumbled. "But hey, the bright side is I get more time to be a kid unlike any of you."

"Actually I think Grace wins that one," Lily pointed out to the only human here.

"True," Masen said, causing us to all chuckle.

"Don't you kids talk about other stuff? Like I don't know partying and drugs?" Grandpa Charlie teased, coming in to steal a cookie off the counter. He was here with Sue and Leah to spend Christmas with us. We were suppose to go to Forks this year but since we had our little fiasco back there, we decided to just stay in New York.

"Is a cop actually encouraging us to do such naughty things?" Masen questioned sarcastically, raising an eyebrow at our grandfather.

"No, I'm just saying." Grandpa Charlie chuckled, grinning at us. "What do a bunch of supernatural kids talk about besides supernatural stuff?"

"If I answer drugs with that make you happy?" Lizzy mentioned, a smirk on her face.

Grandpa Charlie just sighed, having his own joke backfire on him as he scooped Lizzy up in the air. "You, little missy, better not."

"Dad stop harassing my children," My mom teased, coming into the kitchen.

"Yeah. We'll outsmart you very fast, Charlie ole boy," Aidan said, patting him on the back.

"We've outsmarted everyone here at least once," Lizzy explained to him, smiling deviously.

"That's um reassuring..." Grandpa Charlie trailed off.

We all laugh as we begin to sip on hot chocolate and eat some freshly baked cookies Grandma made for us. After that we spent the rest of the day watching Elf and having some good holiday fun. It was nice.

The next day, Christmas Eve, my family spent it trying to have some holiday cheer, but it was hard. Aunt Alice and a few of the others like my grandparents, mom, and Uncle Emmett were trying really hard for something to happen but let's face it, even though I've been ignoring a lot of our problems for a month now we couldn't avoid how a lot of us felt about each other right now. We weren't talking or getting along or some of us were scared to even think about Christmas with the overbearing thought of Serena.

We were all gathered around the living room, sitting the couches while the T.V had the tune of some Christmas special on. I wasn't paying attention much, I was talking to Grace, Grandpa Charlie, and Sue at the moment. I was just thinking about how I could avoid Jacob, Nahuel, and my dad today because that's all that bothered me now.

"Come on! Who wants to help me decorate the tree!" Aunt Alice exclaimed, trying to get anyone to act excited around here.

"I will!" Lizzy cheered, trying to be optimistic.

"I'll help," Grace offered, feeling awkward with the family tension. She was here along with Nahuel and Jen, which might have been a mistake because all Nahuel and Jake are doing is glaring at one another.

"It's Abby's first tree, let's go!" Aunt Alice sung. I looked down at my cousin, the size of a five year old now, making her way with them. Abby was all of a sudden growing extremely rapid. A few weeks ago it was a bit slow but now she was growing like a weed.

"Christmas!" Abby exclaimed, clapping her hands. "I can't wait for Santa!"

"Me too Abbs!" Lizzy said, smiling happily for her. The rest of us watched as they all gathered to help Alice set up some ornaments.

"Look what I found," Uncle Emmett announced coming in with my mom and Aunt Rose. They were smiling and chuckling as they brought over a box.

"Some ornaments from our first Christmas together in 2008," Mom told us, dusting the box off.

"Wow, I wasn't even born yet," Masen mused, chuckling.

"I was pregnant with you though," My mom said, brushing some of his hair. "My little boy."

"Mom." Masen chuckled, nudging her playfully. She chuckled with him, kissing the top of his head before taking a few ornaments out.

"Where did you get these?" I questioned, sitting up as I observed some of the familiar crafts I made from school. I noticed my ornament, a small wolf. It represented me on the tree. Lily had a deer, Lizzy a lizard, and Aidan a bear. Masen got one our next Christmas of a Lion.

"That was our first Christmas," Lily mused looking right at her twin.

"Remember that Christmas, Liz that's when we got the legos. Started our building business and your candy cane game too!" Aidan exclaimed, excited about the memory.

"I remember!" She laughed. "That's also the day I taught myself to speak for Renesmee," Lizzy added, grinning towards my direction as she held her ornament. I smiled as I pulled her in a tight hug.

"It's a lot like that Christmas though, if you think about it," Aidan muttered, fiddling with his bear ornament. "We were in fear of Lorenzo and now..."

"Serena," Masen added, placing an ornament on the tree. Our family was quiet for a few moments.

"Just stop. I'm going to be the same exact way I was that day four years ago," Aunt Alice announced, hugging Uncle Jasper closer to her and Abby to her side. "We need cheer so everyone stop freaking mopping so my baby, can enjoy her very first Christmas. So suck it up and let's have fun. As a family."

"Alice is right. Smile kids. I didn't wait decades for kids to have them sad all the time," Aunt Rose added, dragging Lily and Aidan over to her and Uncle Emmett. Lily smiled as she sat next to Uncle Em and Aidan with Aunt Rose.

"They do have a point," Lizzy mentioned, looking up from my hold.

"Alright, come on guys. Let's have a good Christmas," I said, hugging her closer. We all then participated. It was pretty fun though, being with my family. We laughed and smiled, placing our presents for each other under the tree to finish it off. By the time we were done it was midnight.

"I'm turning in for the night," Grandpa Charlie announced, chuckling as he threw an arm around Sue. "Night guys!"

"Night!" Everyone said. Soon we were all saying goodnight and turning in.

"I'll see you guys New Years. Probably won't see me until then since my mom has all this week off," Grace mentioned. "Gotta spend as much time as I can with her."

"Hope you guys have fun," I told her, grinning as I went to hug her. "Merry Christmas."

"You too Ness. I hope things start getting better," She added, giving me a tight squeeze before we pulled apart. I smiled again as she turned to look at my family, "Thanks for the amazing Christmas Eve! See you all soon!"

"Yeah, thanks a lot for everything," Jen added, heading over towards Grace and the door. "Nahuel and I gotta start going too."

"It was wonderful having all of you," Esme told them happily, clinging to Carlisle's side. "Have a Merry Christmas!"

"You too!" they told her.

"Hey Nahuel, tell Hulien I said Merry Christmas. I'll see you in a few days," Jen mentioned to her brother.

"Will do," Nahuel told her, grinning.

"You two aren't spending Christmas together?" I questioned, looking at the siblings. Jen and Nahuel shared a look a shrugged.

"I miss my Aunt and what better than Christmas to go visit her and my new uncle," Nahuel said to me. His smile dazzling. He was dressed in a gray sweater and a pair of jeans. His muscles outlined through the shirt.

"Yo, Jen you're allowed to come here for Christmas tomorrow so you're not alone," Aidan told her, smiling.

"It's fine. I don't celebrate Christmas anyway," She mentioned, shrugging. "My dad was an atheist and my birth mom was jewish. When I celebrated something, it was Hanukkah."

"Come on, you came here today. It's really no trouble," Aidan told her, taking both his hands in hers. "Please come?"

"If it's okay, I'll come..." Jen trailed off, looking at the parents.

"Totally," Rosalie answered, smiling with the others. I smiled too, reassuring Jen she was welcome here at any time.

"Alright, pick me up at one then Aide," Jen winked at him. "I have a pretty awesome gift for you and Lizzy anyway."

"Okay, deal," Aidan said, chuckling. Jen smiled at him and before she left she hugged Esme, Lizzy, Seth, and then finally kissed Aidan on the cheek.

"Merry Christmas!" She said, then she turned to her brother. "And you, be safe in South America!"

"I will," Nahuel told Jen, smiling as he went over to scoop her up in a big hug. Jen clung to him as they held each other tightly. "Love you."

"Love you too," Jen muttered, kissing him on the cheek. "I'll see you in a week." She then turned to Grace who was putting her coat on.

"Hey, I'll walk you home, if you want," Masen mentioned to Grace, fumbling on his words a bit.

"That's sweet of you, but I'm good," Grace told him promptly. "You stay here, with your family. Okay?"

"If it makes you feel better lover boy, I can go with her," Jen said, putting her hat on. "I could use someone to walk home with, if that's okay Grace."

"Yeah, I wouldn't mind the company." Grace agreed, smiling at her. She then turned to Masen and gave him a soft smile, "Have a Merry Christmas. See you on your birthday."

"Alright," He told her quietly before they both gave one another a goodbye hug. After that Jen and Grace said their goodbyes one last time before disappearing into the dark holiday night.

I turned to Nahuel who grabbed his coat and hat, "And I'm off to South America for my holiday."

"Have fun with that," I mentioned, chuckling as I help wrap the scarf I got him for Christmas around his neck. "Hope this'll come in handy." I chuckled, referencing my gift. He smiled, touching it and nodded.

"Yeah, it will. Thanks for the present," He told me with a small grin. "I got you something, by the way. I never got the chance to give it to you."

"You didn't have to-"

"I did," Nahuel insisted, chuckling as he handed me the wrapped up tissue paper. "Merry Christmas, Ness."

"Thank you," I told him, holding the rectangle close to my chest. "Have fun in South America and be safe."

"I will," Nahuel told me confidently. He then leaned down to kiss me on the cheek. I blushed a little as he then gave me a tilt of his hat before walking out the front door.

I bite my lip, looking down at the wrapped up box. Slowly I opened it to see he got me an original edition of Jane Austen's Emma. I sighed, looking carefully at the yellow pages and the old English text. I smiled, holding the book close to my chest and peering out the window to find him smiling at me briefly before he disappeared into the night.

"That was sweet of him," my mother mused, looking down at the novel. "This looks like one of Austen's first editions."

"It is," I answered gleefully. "I've always wanted one."

"Wow, that boy must really like you," Mom mentioned to me. I sighed, brushing the cover of the novel with my finger tips.

"He does, but so does someone else," I whispered quietly, looking at Jake in the corner of my eye. Hurt was on his face. He was trying to hide it and it worked for everyone, but me. I could see it in his eyes, it was like his soul was wounded as well.

"Baby, look at me," Momma whispered. She took my hand and quietly brought me to the other room.

"I don't know what to do!" I confessed to her. Tears welding up in my eyes. "With both of them! They're everywhere I go! I escape it, but they just keep coming back. I know I'm growing up fast, but I'm still young. And confused. This isn't something I should be worrying about!"

My mom paused, looking at me as I burst out in confusion. "Honey, I know. I know the feeling because once upon a time I was in a situation like this with your father and…and another man. And you're right, you try to escape it but they just keep coming back to you and you won't be happy until you solved the whole mess. Set the boys straight. You pick the one who makes you happier than anything else on this planet, but right now don't because I can tell you're distressed. Keep doing what you're doing. Occupy yourself and when the moment comes, the moment comes," My mom explained to me softly.

I nod, before rushing into her arms with tears streaming down my face.

"You'll figure it out baby, in the meantime just enjoy Christmas," Mom kissed my hair gently.

Later that night I crawled into my bed and just stared at the ceiling. I couldn't go to sleep, and I don't think someone else couldn't either because around 2am I felt someone sneaking into my bed. I looked to see it was Lizzy, crawling underneath the blankets.

"Can I help you?" I questioned, seeing my little sister rolling up next to me.

"I couldn't sleep," She told me simply.

"And why is that?" I asked, turning to face her from my side. She shrugged.

"A lot to think about this Christmas and I just wanted to spend Christmas Eve with my older sister," Lizzy muttered.

"Alright, if you say so," I said, chuckling. I then reached over to kiss her forehead, "Night Lizzy."

"Night Nessie," She mumbled, snuggling closer to me. "Actually, no."

"No what?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

"I came in here because I'm scared on Christmas and I don't like it," She grumbled under the covers. "Why aren't things normal for us Nessie?"

"I don't know sweetie, but hey, you'll have fun tomorrow. Don't worry, sooner or later this will all be over. Promise," I said to her, hugging her tightly to my chest.

"I hope so," Lizzy muttered, hugging back even tighter.

"Are you guys seriously having a slumber party without me?" Lizzy and I look up to see Masen in the doorway. He flashed us a cunning grin before taking a seat at the edge of our bed.

"What are you doing in here Mase?" I questioned, chuckling and cocking an eyebrow at him.

"He's scared," Lizzy said, sticking her tongue out at him.

"I think we all are pip squeak," Masen said, tickling her sides. "I don't normally play this card, but would you two be willing to let your little brother stay for the night."

"You're gross." I replied sarcastically, opening up blankets for him to come in. "Just get in."

"Woo, slumber party time," He teased, heading on the other side of me.

"Come on you two, gather around the big sis." I laughed, wrapping an arm around each of them.

"Merry Christmas," Lizzy mentioned, looking out towards the window as snow slowly fell.

"Merry Christmas," I repeated, smiling as I kissed the top of her head and kissed Masen's cheek. "We'll have a good one. Promise."

"You better keep that promise," Masen teased, nudging me. I chuckled as the three of us then lay in my bed, falling asleep to a hopeful Christmas the next day.


A/N: Hoped you guys enjoyed! Just finished school so hopefully this story will be finished soon. I really can't wait to move onto the next one, but there's still a long way to go with this one. Thanks for reading! And be on the lookout for the next update :D