a/n I lost everything, kids, and you have yourselves to thank that I was able to recreate my outline. Why, you ask, were you so vital? Remember when you guys kept asking for an order of firsts? Yeah. There were only a few after that, and those were fresher to the memory and easily placed. It's finally restored to its original glory, and then some, but any suggestions were lost. I'm going to sort through old reviews, but now more than ever, request away!

As a thank you, I am giving you what is probably the most requested first ever... partly. You know me-I like to drag shit out. This is set about four months after "Private School," a little after the turn of the new year.

You guys are the best, and this one is for all of you.

PREGNANT

Renesmee could feel her eyes closing, but there wasn't a thing she could do about it. She was trying, dammit, as hard as she could to keep them open, but it was proving too hard. No matter what she did, she was falling asleep in the middle of class.

The blowing whistle was barely even enough to keep her up. "Cullen!" Their gym teacher's voice was raised. "Vanessa!"

"Hmm?" Blinking blearily, Renesmee straightened up, realizing she'd been more or less leaning over, probably about to hit the floor in a minute. "Sorry." She rubbed her eyes, and felt again how sluggish she had become. "I'm really sorry," she repeated, swaying slightly.

"Sit this set out, honey." The older woman's voice was kind, and Renesmee dragged her feet as she made her way to the bleachers, pulling off her elbow pads as she went. She heard the whistle blow again, and the cheers of the girls as the volleyball game started up again. From across the gym, she could feel Rosalie's eyes on her, and she met them, smiling slightly as she gave Rose a wave. Rosalie turned, saying something to the coach.

Again, Renesmee's eyes started to droop, and she was almost a little startled to feel her aunt's cool hand on her shoulder. "Hey." Rosalie was squatting down in front of her so they were at eye level. Renesmee forced her eyes the rest of the way open to meet Rosalie's, and found them full of concern. "You okay?"

"Just tired," she insisted. She could hear how whiny she sounded as she tried to bat away the hand that slid up to rest against her forehead. "I'm fine."

"You're a little warm." Rosalie's voice held a tone of concern.

"I'm tired," she said, scowling. "Sometimes I get hot when I'm really tired."

"Don't you get sassy with me," Rosalie said defensively. She straightened up. "Come on, I'll take you to the office and we can call someone to come get you. Go home and sleep. Alice is worried you're about to fall over. She was seeing some upset around your black spot."

"Don't bother Carlisle." Renesmee let Rosalie pull her to her feet and guide her gently out of the gym. "I don't want to interrupt him at work."

"Who do you want me to call?" Rosalie's voice was soothing. Renesmee could count on one hand the number of times she'd been ill in her life, and while Rosalie was fine to help take care of her...

They were in the hall now, away from prying ears. "I want daddy," she sighed, leaning against Rosalie. "I know it sound stupid, but I just want him right now." She could feel tears in her eyes. How strange.

She really was fucking exhausted.

"Oh, honey, don't cry," Rose begged, turning them down toward the main office. "We'll call him and he'll be here in five minutes."

Renesmee nodded, sniffling slightly as they entered the office. The secretary glanced up from her desk, a concerned look on her face. "She needs to go home," Rosalie told the woman. "She's not feeling well. I'm going to call our dad, but can our brother come pick her up?"

"As long as it's fine with your father," she said. She picked up the phone, and Renesmee listened as Rosalie gave her the number, then as the secretary spoke to Carlisle. After a few minutes leaning against Rose, there was the sound of the phone hanging up. "You're all set, dear. Rosalie, would you be so kind as to make sure and get her homework?"

"Sure." She smiled charmingly as she guided them back out to the front.

"You feel better, Vanessa," the secretary called, and Renesmee managed a weak wave in return.

"One thing to love about private schools," Rosalie mused, "is that they really don't care so much when you dip out. It helps that you look like you're already asleep."

"Hmm." Renesmee nodded slightly, letting her eyes close as Rosalie sat them down on the bench that overlooked the school's main drive. "It's nice."

Again, she slept for a few minutes. Rosalie stroked her hair soothingly. She woke a few minutes later to see her father kneeling in front of her, looking concerned. Her first thought was that she was happy to see him. Her second thought...

"Call him from the car," Edward ordered. "We can't have anyone raising eyebrows when he leaves because he has to be with you."

Too late, she thought. She'd felt terrible all day, and at lunch, without her having said a word, her husband sat down next to her and drilled her with questions. He knew something was wrong, but she insisted she was just tired. He'd fretted even more when she'd turned down the offer of a cup of coffee.

"Well, that is cause for concern," Edward said, shaking his head. "You, turning down coffee? The sky is falling, and the world is ending." And even though his tone was light, his eyes...

"Thank you, Rosalie," he said, rising and pulling Renesmee to her feet. "I owe you."

Rosalie waved her hand, dismissive of his gratitude. "I'll bring your clothes home too, okay baby?" She smiled at her niece and leaned forward to kiss her cheek. "Go get some sleep."

They drove through the outskirts of Hartley Bay, and even though it was January and it was thirty degrees out, she felt stifled. Cracking the window slightly, she breathed in the fresh air as they drove out into the woods just west of the town. The sleet seemed to have abated for a moment, and she inhaled deeply. If she closed her eyes, she could almost make herself believe that she was back home in Forks. Maybe it was the cold or the damp, or maybe she was just homesick, but the scent almost seemed sharper than normal. Not overpowering, but definitely stronger.

Her phone buzzing jolted her from another nap. Pulling it out, she shook her head slightly, rolling her eyes before answering the call. "I'm fine," she said, exasperated. She was - if she were sick, dammit, she'd be the first to know. "Go back to class."

"You didn't even text me." Her heart broke, as fast as her annoyance had flared, at the sound of his cracking voice.

"I'm sorry, baby." She worked to make her voice as soothing as possible. Edward took a sharp turn just then, and she felt her insides lurch a little unpleasantly at the movement. "Easy, pops," she said. "Not quite so many Gs."

"What's wrong?" Jacob's voice was desperate. "I can be there in two minutes."

Edward actually slowed down after another curve unsettled her yet again. His eyebrows wrinkled, but he said nothing. "I'm perfectly fine, and I'm going to hang up on you, because I'm home and I'm going to bed. I love you, and I'll see you in two hours."

"Hey-"

She disconnected the call and bit her lip a little, peering at her father with wide eyes. "Was that mean?"

"Perhaps, but it was necessary." Edward chuckled. "You know how he gets when he worries about you. The only reason I'm not more worried myself is your brain." He reached over to tap her forehead. "I know you'd know if you were ill, and I believe you."

They made their way inside, and as soon as they entered, the smell of something in the kitchen made her freeze. She didn't realize her nose was wrinkling with disgust until her hand was covering it.

"Oh, my God," she gasped, and before anyone could say anything, she bolted out the front door and into the yard, managing to make it just in time before the sudden rolling sensation in her stomach boiled out her lips. She vomited, cringing at the foreign taste in her mouth. A second later, she could feel a cool hand on her back. Esme.

"Oh, my darling," she crooned. She gently brushed back Renesmee's hair as the vomiting abated, and she leaned into her grandmother. "Better?"

"Yeah." She sighed heavily. "What was that smell?"

Esme's eyebrows raised. "Fried chicken."

"Really?" Renesmee shook her head, and the breeze shifted. A new smell met her senses, drifting from the now open kitchen window. "Is he cleaning?" she asked, nodding her head toward the house.

"I asked him to toss the chicken and get rid of the smell. After that he's going to fetch Carlisle." Esme smiled, and for the first time today, Renesmee found herself feeling a little better. The back door of the house slammed, and she could hear her father's racing footsteps, disappearing moments later. "Come inside. We'll get you some tea and put you to bed."

Renesmee made her way upstairs, and after a quick shower, changed into clean clothes that didn't smell like locker room and girls' perfume. She was snuggling up when there was a soft knock on the door, and Esme appeared, holding a steaming mug.

"How's your stomach?" she asked, sitting down on the edge of the bed and handing Renesmee the tea. She reached forward to brush back her granddaughter's hair.

"You know, it's weird, but other than my stomach and being tired, I feel fine. And a little hungry. Weird, right?"

Esme just smiled.

Renesmee inhaled the steam wafting from her tea, and another soft knock interrupted their conversation. She looked up to see her mother's wide eyes, the same shape as hers, but a different color, peer around the door. "Hi, baby." She stepped in and sat down next to Esme on the edge of the bed. Bella turned to her mother-in-law, but reached out to take her daughter's hand. "How is she doing?"

"Warm, a little queasy."

"The tea is helping," Renesmee said, feeling whatever it was soothe the churn. "What is it?"

"Lemon and ginger," Esme said. "Do us a favor, and don't come downstairs. I think it was the fry oil that set you off, and it's going to take a while to get rid of the smell."

"But I'm feeling better," Renesmee argued. Not that she really wanted to get out of bed, but she felt Esme was being silly.

"Fine." Esme grinned. "Try it."

Sure enough, after five mintues and much debate as to whether or not she could keep her stomach at bay and a brave trip downstairs, one whiff of peanut oil and she was bolting for the back door this time, and fresh air. She vomited off the porch like a sorority girl at a party, and Esme and Bella were at her sides, rubbing her back.

"So to get inside," Renesmee mourned, "I have to go through that smell."

"Yep." For some reason, neither woman seemed bothered by her sudden bought of sickness. If anything, they seemed amused. Bella's voice in particular almost sounded a little excited. "Good luck with that."

"I'm going to live on the swing for a while," she said, making her way to the other end of the porch, where a wooden porch swing hung, overlooking the massive back yard. "It smells good out here."

"I'll make you some more tea," Esme offered. "Settle you down before your father and grandfather get back and start interrogating." She was back inside a moment later, opening and closing the door as quickly as possible.

"Ugh." Renesmee let her mother lead her to the swing, and she lay down on it, resting her head in her mother's lap. "Was he freaking out when he left?"

"A little," Bella said, running her fingers down Renesmee's hair. "I told him not to worry, but you know how he gets."

"You're not worried," Renesmee pointed out. "Neither is Esme."

"We're not," Bella confirmed. "We have a theory, but we're just waiting for the rest of you to catch up."

"Catch up to what?"

"Why would Esme and I not be worried that you're hot, tired, vomiting, and cranky?"

"I'm not cranky." But even as she said it, Renesmee could hear the irritation and snap in her voice - irritation that had, if she was honest about it, been present off and on in sudden flares all day.

"Not today, but you have been a little the last couple of weeks." Bella smirked. "Who knows you better than me, anyway? There is something different about you, other than that."

Renesmee frowned down at her mother's knees before sitting up slowly, not wanting to give herself a head rush. "So, you don't think I'm sick?"

"Not in the conventional sense, no."

Esme reappeared, a fresh mug in her hands. "Here," she said.

Renesmee took a sip, and felt the tea relaxing her upset somach. "Oh, my God." She inhaled the steam again. "This is amazing. And I don't even like ginger."

"You're not a big fan of V8 either, and you've pounded a glass every morning for a week." Bella sounded like she was biting back laughter.

This was true. The only reason they kept it around was that Jacob enjoyed a Bloody Mary from time to time. And for some reason, ever day before school, she'd snitched a can from the fridge, thinking no one noticed.

Renesmee closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and lowering the mug to rest between her hands on her thigh. She shifted all of her focus to her own body for the first time in months, trying to feel every finger, toe, elbow, blood vessel, and organ on and in her body.

Then she heard it. It was strange. It was not a sound she'd ever remembered making before, and she frowned with concentration. What in the hell...

It was pulsing. It was just below her stomach, which no longer felt tense, so that couldn't be the problem.

The mug of tea slipped from her fingers, falling to the wooden deck below her feet. Her eyes shot open and she stared at Esme, feeling her eyes go as wide as saucers.

"Oh, my God," she whispered. "But..." She frowned, focusing on the sound again. Her heart sped, and she noticed that when that happened, the pulsing sped up a little, too. "It's..." She breathed deeply, calming herself, and felt the pulsing slow again. Even slower, though, it was still quick. Not quite as fast as her own heartbeat, but something more akin to Jacob's.

Jacob...

"We're not trying," she blurted out, and Bella burst out laughing.

"You think I was trying?" she giggled. "You were a surprise, darling, I've told you a million times. And thank Esme for figuring it out. She only told me so I could block her from your father. We didn't want to spoil the fun for him."

"But what if it's something else?" She couldn't believe it. She couldn't believe it. "What if..." She trailed off, unsure.

"When was the last time you menstruated?" Esme wore a huge smile.

"Um..." She could feel several expressions crossing her face-confusion, intrigue, more confusion, then realization. "Ten months ago?"

"Yep, you're knocked up," Bella said. "You've never gone that long without one. Six months, tops. Normally four or five."

"Oh, my God," she said again. Her hand fluttered up to rest over her stomach, and now that she was paying attention, she wasn't sure how she'd missed it. It was different - she was different. She'd asked Jen how she'd known she was pregnant, and she could feel now what Jennifer had described. It was like her energy had shifted, moving from her heart to her womb, wrapping around and around her baby to protect him from anything that could cause him harm.

Jen, who was perfectly healthy, developing fairly close to normally. Her pregnancy seemed to have gradually gotten about a month ahead. While the ultrasound hadn't been clear, Carlisle could make out enough from it to tell her that at four months pregnant, she'd developed to about five, and to expect birthing at seven or eight months.

Jen, who felt no sense of fear, only the natural bond of a mother and child. And her child, so far, seemed a much better behaved fetus than its mother had been. The kicks were a little sharp at times, and Jen swore that by the end she'd be ready for the baby to come out, but the everything seemed normal and not even close to causing injury.

Jen, who Carlisle seemed completely relaxed about. Because her body was strong, he said, and she was staying physically very healthy. She and Seth would walk a mile each day, up and down the beach, then she'd eat a healthy dinner after a day of two other meals. Her morning sickness had stopped, par with timing for a normal woman, and everything about her pregnancy seemed normal.

"I need to go into town," she said, standing up. "I want to do this the normal way, since I can."

It was quite fortunate Esme's skin was like iron, because otherwise, she would have exploded out of it by now. "Are you going to get a test?" she asked excitedly.

"Yeah. Don't tell anyone where I went, though. I don't want it to come out negative and break a bunch of hearts."

"Okay." Her mother smirked. "I'll get your keys and pull the car out for you. Apparently, you have my pregnancy aversion to fried chicken."

Just the thought of the smell...

Half an hour, one car ride, two bouts of sickness, and an awkward purchase from a classmate employed by the drug store later, Renesmee sat in the bathroom of a Jimmy John's. The sandwich shop offered the smell of soft bread and tuna, which for some odd reason, sounded really good. She'd placed her order before excusing herself.

She needed three minutes.

Just like she'd done a hundred times before, she peed in the cup like a good girl. Now taking notes in her brain, she noticed several things - she had to pee, tuna sounded really good, and her thoughts were running a million miles a minute - all pregnancy symptoms. Shaking her head, she dipped the stick, held, pulled, laid, and waited with one eye on her Rolex. The seconds ticked slowly, and she sighed, cleaning herself up before standing and leaning against the stall wall, staring at the ceiling and thinking that the tuna sandwich was probably done and waiting for her with a big ass pickle.

"What the fuck?" she mumbled. "I done even care about pickles."

But the thought of a big, juicy dill pickle was making her mouth water.

She wondered vaguely if she could fit the whole thing in her mouth - maybe if she put it on a fork she could pull it off - without choking. It was entirely possible, based on the size of Jacob's dick, alone.

Oh, God, this was why people associated pickles with sex, and it was only because of morbid curiosity over whether or not they had a big enough mouth to swallow an entire pickle. Or a banana.

She had to be pregnant. A fucking banana sounded amazing right now. The healthy human fruits she normally could take or leave suddenly sounded heavenly - just clean and fresh and wonderful, and how the hell had she gone from a pregnancy test to bananas in...

Three minutes. Her three minutes were up, and she blinked, refocusing on the task at hand. Taking a deep breath, she reached for the little stick, stared at the window, and blinked. She focused harder, like she was trying to look at a star so distant it barely seemed to exist in the night sky. Still, the same thing stared back at her.

Nothing.

No half ass pink lines, no plus, no nothing. She double checked the box - the same kit Jennifer had used. She looked at the test again.

Nothing. Completely blank. Her heart sped up, and she felt the pulsing - the heartbeat - below her stomach pick up, as well. Mouth a little slack, she reached down to rest a hand on her stomach, giving it a little rub. She closed her mouth, and felt several expressions cross her face, before settling on one that must have been a mix of amused and shocked. "Chill out," she ordered, smiling. The felt like her face was going to explode. "I'm just excited. I'll calm down after that tuna sandwich stops mocking me."

She took her dinner to the boat. It was quiet there, and no one would bother her. She drove out to the docks, parking and taking the sandwich, the pickle, and the thermos of donated human blood her mother had left in her car, out onto the family yacht. She sat on the deck, enjoying her view of Promise Island and the few boats coming and going from the marina. She was halfway through her sandwich when the sound of footsteps coming closer on the boardwalk met her ears.

She knew who it was before he was fifty feet away, and she continued eating, a little smile on her face.

"What the fuck?" Jacob hopped easily from the deck to the boat, giving her a bewildered look. "I thought you went home to sleep because you were sick, and you're fucking sitting here eating Jimmy John's!"

"I don't wanna go home," she said around a mouthful of tuna. "It smells like fried chicken."

"Yeah, well, I'm supposed to tell you the smell is gone." He sat down next to her, running his hands through his hair and looking a little tortured. "Your mom wouldn't let me go until it was, so I could tell you it was safe to come home."

Renesmee snorted, belatedly pleased her mouth was no longer full. "That's funny."

"It wasn't." He sat back, reclining and crossing his arms over his chest. "It was mean. She knows something, her and Esme. I told them you'd tell me anyway, and Esme's response was, 'Yes, she will, when she feels like it.' Fucking annoying, and I love that woman," he added fiercely, pointing at nothing. "She's like a second mother to me. And that's the only thing keeping me from screaming at her."

Renesmee chewed another bite thoughtfully. "You're really bothered, aren't you?"

"I just..." He reached up to rake his fingers through his hair again. She smiled, wondering vaguely if their child would do that.

Their child...

Jacob was speaking, but she couldn't hear him. She was sobbing into her sandwich, and he was in front of her a second later, trying to soothe her. When she finally managed to get a hold of herself, she smiled at him, and it felt like her face was going to explode.

"I'm fine, baby," she laughed wetly, reaching up to cup his cheeks with her hands.

She showed him everything that had happened since she'd left gym class hours ago, up until the moment he'd arrived. Everything, down to the tuna sandwich.

He stared at her with an awed expression. She dropped her hands back into her lap, gnawing on her bottom lip as she stared back. He was silent.

Forcing herself to take a deep breath, she asked, "Well? What do you think?"

Before she even registered the motion, he had his arms wrapped around her and was pulling her out of her seat. She laughed as he swayed her in his arms, burying his face in her hair. She could feel hot tears on her neck-his, as hers were dry now. She wound her fingers in his hair, giggling as he cried.

"I love you," he whispered, his voice raspy. "I love you so much."

She kissed the side of his head as she wrapped her legs around his waist and he slid his hands under her to better support her. "I love you, too," she said said, still feeling the huge smile on her face. "Congratulations, baby," she said, her voice sounding proud to her own ears. "You knocked me up."

The house had finally settled. Renesmee's illness and sudden disappearance had everyone a little rattled. Everyone except Esme and Bella. And Bella was sheilding Esme, and now Renesmee and Jacob.

It wasn't fair.

His daughter was still on her way home, but Bella had met them on the edge of town, instructing him to sit on the back porch and wait. The rest of the home's occupants had left on a hunting trip, grudgingly giving their brother his privacy. He heard the car speeding down the road before slowing and turing into their long drive. His head snapped to the side, everything focused on the car that sounded, to him, to be driving itself. They weren't even talking, until they pulled into the garage.

"Where is everyone?" Renesmee's voice was curious, and a little amused.

"Hunting, I expect." Bella's voice was dismissive. "Your father is on the back porch."

Renesmee took a deep breath, held it for a second, and let it out very slowly. "And you're sure the smell is gone?"

"Yep."

They entered the house, and Edward noted that, while he could sense Jacob in the house, the other man had been silent, so far - a sharp contrast to his insistence that he deserved to know what was wrong with his wife, not an hour ago.

The back door opened, and his daughter was the first one outside. She was frowning. "I swear, I can still smell it."

"I'll do laundry tonight," Bella promised, stepping out after them.

Jacob came out last, and the change in his demeanor from earlier was a little shocking. He was smiling broadly and walking at his full height, shoulders back. He looked... proud.

"I don't know if it's enough. I'm sleeping on the boat, and I am not going to school tomorrow." Renesmee's hand slapped over her mouth. "Oh, my God, I can't go back to school."

He'd held his tongue so far. He couldn't do it anymore.

"Excuse me!" he cried, leaping to his feet and landing a foot away from the trio, who looked at him, a little shocked. "I'm waiting!"

Renesmee raised her eyebrows, giving him a challenging smile. "Are you?" She cocked her head, and her expression softened as he sagged a little. "Sit down, daddy."

He resumed his original pose, scowling on the porch swing. Renesmee sighed. "Can you just give me a minute? I don't know if I can do it with everyone watching."

Bella smiled, kissing her daughter on the cheek before darting to his side. He sighed softly as she kissed him on the cheek. Jacob, meanwhile, had scooped up Renesmee into a bear hug, pulling her off her feet. She squealed but giggled, leaning back to kiss him quickly. "Go," she ordered, and he put her back down and darted inside after Bella. He heard a door on the third floor slam, and knew this was alone as they were going to get.

Renesmee stood at the other end of the porch, shaking her head as she watched them go. "I swear, sometimes I think I really missed out on seeing them as teenagers."

Edward shrugged, moving his stare to her shoes.

"Oh, come on," she said, crossing slowly to him before sitting down at his side. He noticed that her slow movements didn't seem deliberate - they seemed tired. He frowned.

"You're dead on your feet," he fretted. "Where have you been?"

"I went out to the marina," she said, turning so she could prop her bare feet in his lap. "Had some dinner."

"What did you eat? Anything healthy?"

She threw her head back and laughed, and he felt his silent heart warm, seeing himself in the image. "I had a tuna sandwich and a pickle, then I had a strawberry-banana smoothie on the way home. It was delicious."

Edward cocked an eyebrow. "Interesting. You're not a fish fan."

"I know." She nodded her head slowly, blinking her eyes as if she were trying to stay awake. "Crab cakes sound good, too. They sell them in town, don't they? At that little shop?"

Edward frowned. Something was off. She was talking about seafood with a dreamy expression on her face. "I'd imagine."

"I should check tomorrow."

"You'll be at school tomorrow," Edward reminded her. "Unless you have a very good excuse not to go."

Her head had been lolling back, and her eyes drooping, but at this, her head snapped up, and she gave him the same challenging expression she'd given him earlier. "Easy, pops," she said. "I'm a consenting adult in every way. Sometime soon, I'm going to the school and dropping out. I'll tell them," she said slowly, her expression thoughtful, "I've got some kind of treatable disease that's going to keep me out. Maybe really severe anemia, or something. Then the rest of them can just drop at the end of the year if they want. I'm sure there will be rumors, but maybe that will help us seem more human." She smiled whimsically. "I'm so good at making our family seem normal," she said happily.

Edward stared at her, his mouth gaping. "When did you start making decisions for the entire family with no consent or conversation?"

"Since this evening, when I was waiting for my dinner."

"A tuna sandwich," he repeated slowly, "and a pickle."

"Right."

"So?"

She smirked, and he frowned, seeing himself again. "So, what?"

"So, why are you dropping out?" Edward had stopped being worried. If she were ill, she'd be straight with him - he knew her well enough to be sure of it. But here she sat, toying with him and beating around the bush.

She smirk melted into a smile so content she looked as if she could melt into her seat. Her body was relaxed, her cheeks pink with vital life. She'd had blood recently, he could tell. Human blood. Bella was spoiling her, for whatever reason.

"Can't very well be a pregnant girl in a Catholic school, now can I?"

Time froze. He stared at his daughter, not moving or blinking or breathing - just processing. Her eyes were wide, and her smile faded a little. She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth, just like her mother did.

He'd experienced this when they'd conceived Renesmee, but that had been out of fear. But now, there was none.

He could feel his shoulders shaking slightly, and his breath catching. She pulled her feet back, shifting so they were curled up under her and she was snuggled against his side. He wrapped a firm arm around her shoulders, burying his face in her hair.

She took his free hand, wrapping their fingers tightly together. It's okay, daddy. He laughed shakily at her misinterpretation of his silent tears. Everything's okay. Please, daddy, please please please be happy. It's okay. Her thoughts were almost like a croon, and very soothing.

Another shaky laugh escaped him. "Do you remember the day you were born?" he asked.

She frowned. "Vaguely. I remember..." Her hand was still laced with his, and he watched the fuzzy images in her mind - a flash of golden hair, Bella and Jacob's faces, and...

"Oh." She smiled. The first time he'd held her flashed through her mind, clearer than other memories. She remembered his smile, and being happy to see it. "You told me mom was taking a nap. Then you promised to murder Jacob."

"And you said no, and I couldn't argue with you." Edward smiled, resting his cheek on top of her head.

"Hmm." She was drifting off again. "Nice of you not to."

"I'm glad I didn't." He wrapped both arms around her and pulled her a little closely. "He's the cause for another gift I never expected to receive."

"You told me my hair was going to be a mess," she said, laughing softly.

"You seem to manage your mess better than I can."

Her head, which had more or less been buried in his side, tilted up, and she propped her chin on his chest. "What did you do with it when you were a kid? Surely you weren't allowed to wear it like that in the old days." Her dark eyes twinkled as she reached up to further wreck his hair.

"Pomade," he said, wrinkling his nose. "I could go through two cans a week. Stuff smelled horrible."

Renesmee giggled again, and he smiled back. She certainly looked as happy and healthy as Jennifer. And in the same way he knew he had nothing to worry about there, he knew his daughter would be fine.

"You're worrying again," she pointed out.

"Who's the mind-reader here?" he asked.

"Right now, nobody," she teased, and he frowned. "And don't worry. Think of Jacob as a big barometer - if something's wrong with me, he'll know. Right now, he's in a happy place I've never really seen before, so I think we're good."

Heaving a resigned sigh, Edward brushed his fingers across her warm cheek. "You're right, as usual," he said, smiling. "I'll just have to trust him again with someone I love. Granted, it's served me very well in the past."

"Two someone's you love," she reminded him. She buried her face in his chest again, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. "Am I still going to be allowed to do this when I'm a parent?"

"I should certainly hope so." Edward wrapped his arms around her a little tighter. "You may be a mother, but you will always be my baby."

She made a breathy, contented laugh. "Thanks." Her breathing was starting to slow and even out. "Love you."

"I love you, my darling," he whispered into her hair. She was asleep a second later, breathing deep and even.

And for a while, just like when she was the baby, he let her sleep peacefully on his chest before scooping her up to tuck her in again.

a/n What do you think? It's been floating around in my brain for a while, and I decided I had enough set up to finally give it to you, my wonderfully patient and cheerful reviewers. You guys truly are the best, and I couldn't ask for more.

You can, though. Ask for more... Ask... Make requests! Not sure where I'm off to next, but I'm starting work on it today! Come, my lovelies, and inspire me!

Here's the lineup for all firsts, thus far. Without you all, it would have taken much longer.

Day; Birthday; Break; Crush; Brawl; Walk-In; High School; Driving; Jealous Remix; Runaway; Drinking, Smoking, Nose Breaking; Dance; Kiss; Date; Love; Touching; Sex; Death; Caught; Cliff Diving; Jealous; Trip Alone; Job; House; Wedding; Fight; Christmas; Thanksgiving; Not Pregnant; Home Alone; Walking Out; Driving; Double Date Vacation; Haircut; Private School; Pregnant