'Two'
Renesmee's POV
I woke up early today. Even though I tried to surprise my parents, once again, my Dad heard my thoughts as I padded through the den and glided noiselessly to their door.
"Good morning Nessie," He said from the other side.
"Drats!" I hissed as I opened it. My parents were not on the bed waiting for me to snuggle with them, nor in their humongous closet getting ready for my special day--my birthday. No, they were out in their pretty garden with a little pond in the middle. As soon as I made it through the double glass doors I gaped. They had set up balloons and streamers with rose bows attached. There was a sign that read "Happy Birthday Nessie!" hanging from the back fence and there were stacks of pancakes steaming on a hot plate with strawberries and a bowl of cream beside it.
"Happy Birthday Nessie!" I heard shouted as I ran outside and spun around to the additional sounds of party favors buzzing, whistling and blaring. This was really exciting! Then I spied my Mom and Dad and also my Grandpa. How did he get over here? I didn't know but I was suddenly lifted up from behind --higher and higher until I was settled on Jacob's right shoulder and paraded around to a chorus of 'Happy Birthday to You' sung to yours truly. I was so excited. Jacob finally set me down and gave me a little hug along the way.
"So how old are you pretending to be now squirt?" He asked as my feet touched the floor. "Seven, eight or nine?"
"Nine," I said emphatically with a nod of my head.
"Good," Grandpa said, "We just wanted to get that straight before we started the birthday spankings."
"What?" I spluttered. "As if my Mother would let anyone who dared…" I was shocked to look at my mother who had in her hand a big foam bat. Dad had a second one. "NO!" I squealed as I turned around to bolt, only to be stopped by the unmovable Jacob Black, who had a foam bat of his own. "Grandpa, HELP!" I choked out as Jacob held me in a strategic position so my parents could attack. It was so hilarious that I was having trouble breathing through my fit of laughter. Thankfully, I hadn't said I was pretending to be twelve. I was finally released after all four of my traitorous, loving family members had administered my inflated birthday spankings.
"Good, one tradition down," Dad said. "…time for another one."
"What one would that be?" I asked a little more cautious but still too excited to keep the grin off my face.
"Presents of course!" Mother sang happily. Then she suddenly had a small wrapped box in her hand. I leaped at her and she hugged me tightly. "Oh, I love my baby girl."
"Mom, I'm not a baby anymore." I said indignantly to her.
"You are to me." She replied stubbornly. I couldn't help it. I just love my mom to pieces. She had to be my most favorite person in the whole world. I put my hands on her face. Not a hard feat as I was still in her arms.
"Look into my eyes, Mom. Look deep into my eyes. You are getting sleepy." I tried to make my voice sound mysterious. I also sent out a little 'thought message' just for her implying as much. "Now remember this, your daughter Renesmee is nine years old and no longer your little baby."
"Uh huh, nice try sweetie; you are a little nut." She said. I guess there would be no mind-melding or perhaps a more accurate description would be mind-meddling with my mother. That's okay; it was still fun to try. She looked me in the eyes and her face softened as she said, "I have something here for you. It is something that has been very precious to me and I thought it would mean as much to you as it has to me. She handed me the small box. I tore through the shiny pink paper quickly and found a white box. Inside was a small, pretty, loose-woven, multi-colored fabric bag. It was tied together with a leather drawstring.
"Hey, that's pretty Mom. Thanks!" I picked up the pretty bag and eyed it from all angles wondering what I should put in it.
I was surprised to see Jacob 'tsk' and shake his head. "Like mother, like daughter," He muttered. I wondered what his problem was.
My Dad laughed once. 'Well, not all of us can read minds to get the inside scoop, DAD.' I'd thought his way. For some reason I felt like I was missing something there, though I had no idea what.
The present is inside, Nessie." Mother said with a little sigh.
"Oh," I said as I set out in earnest to undo the tie.
"Don't worry, I thought the bag was the present when Jacob gave it to me too." Mom said in a consoling sort of way.
"This is a hand-me-down from Jake?" I clarified as my eyes shot up to hers in excitement.
"Hey," Dad said, "It was from me too." He added in mock indignation.
Now I was intensely curious. I finally got it open and dropped out into my palm a delicate silver link bracelet. Attached were six charms.
"Let us explain what everything is here." Mom said smiling. Jacob gave me this for a graduation from high school present three months before you were born. But the only charm it had on it at the time was this little wolf figurine.
I examined the tiny carved wolf. It was so detailed it looked realistic, right down to the color of wood that was an exact match for Jacob's wolf fur. I looked up at him. "You made this didn't you?" I said it more as a statement than a question.
He nodded grinning at me. "Took me a real long time too."
"You do know that you're going to have to teach me how you carved this now, right?" I couldn't help it. I was definitely impressed. I spun it around as I held the bracelet dangling from one hand. "That is so cool!" I breathed.
"Yep," Jacob said in satisfaction. "And in keeping with canines…" Jacob let out a whistle and a beautiful German Sheppard bounded through the open back gate and jumped up to lick my cheek. "Meet Rex, your new pet."
"Wow!" I said as I laughed excitedly. "I've never owned a dog before. Hi Rex!" His tail was wagging and his eyes were bright and happy. "Thanks Jacob. How are you boy?" The dog let me pat his head.
"Heel!" Jacob said and immediately the dog sat by my side and panted contentedly. "Rex was going to be a police dog but didn't quite finish the training. SO I figured you could whip him into shape the rest of the way. You know…" Jacob said raising his eyebrows. "You can use some of your voodoo on him." I rolled my eyes.
"Of course your Father wasn't going to be outdone by Jacob so he added his own graduation present to it." Mother said as she pointed to a beautiful diamond heart that sat on the opposite side from the wolf. It looked as though it were cut into about a million facets. As I stood gazing at it a ray from the rising morning sun shot through it shooting it's rainbow across the skin of my face and arms, causing me to gasp.
"Daddy," I said a little breathless. "This diamond is truly beautiful."
"It was the first gift your mother accepted from me. I gave her that diamond the night she agreed to become my wife—of course she thought it was merely a crystal." He smiled widely at the memory and then sighed. Mom gave him a little snuggle. No kidding this had been a precious gift for my Mother to share with me.
"Where did it come from?" I asked him as I continued to stare mesmerized into the facets prisms shooting around the patio from the pre-dawn light.
"Your grandmother Elizabeth," Dad said with a small smile on his face.
"Oh, now I love it even more!" I said as I felt a tear roll down my check. Now what was that about? No one made me mad or hurt my feelings. I was completely happy. I didn't get the tear thing at all.
"We thought you would." Dad said. "So much so, that while I had given it to your Mother to remember me when she was remembering her friend Jacob, we wanted you to remember your grandmother when you looked at the diamond instead."
"No problem there." I said. I was so happy I was beside myself.
"This next 'charm' is for you to remember the three of us as a family." Mother said as she pointed to another heart on the bracelet. This heart was a silver one and I recognized it with its French inscription at once. It was the tiny silver heart locket I had been given for my first Christmas. I had to stop wearing it because the chain was way too small. It fit perfectly on the bracelet. I popped it open and there nestled inside was still the miniature picture of me at three months of age and my parents.
"See Mom, here is me as a baby. Notice the difference in appearance." I said holding it to my face for her to compare as proof. She rolled her eyes. I snapped the locket shut.
"This next one is from me to you." Dad said as I moved on to the next trinket that was a golden charm of a piano. "Now if you press right where the keys are like this…" He pressed very carefully down on the white gilded keys and a beautiful piano piece started to sound from the charm. I recognized the song as the one Dad had composed for me for Valentine's Day. "A song, for you to remember me by, will play." I couldn't help it. I gave him a huge hug. No one was luckier than me. Mind reading aside, I had the best Dad in the world.
"And this one is from me." Mother said as if on cue. She pointed to the next charm. It was a small key. "Okay, thanks for the key…it is really pretty." Was it the key to her heart, or the key to a city, or some other metaphor? Anyway, she gave me the bracelet. That was enough.
"This key goes to something." Mom continued breaking me from my speculations.
"What?" I asked excitedly.
"Oh, just a little trunk." She said smoothly as she pointed to a chest in the corner by the door.
I ran over to it and turned the key in the small lock. I flew open the lid and stared inside. It was almost like seeing a treasure chest of books. Expensive leather bound books. Many of them were her favorites and some where mine. I even noticed one set was 'The Hobbit' and 'The Lord of the Rings' that I was reading with Grandpa right now. There were quite a few in there I had never read. I was so excited.
"Thank you Mom!" I sang. I can't wait to start these, but first I need to finish reading this one to Grandpa." I said eying the large green leather volume again. I sighed contentedly.
After a few minutes, I realized that there was one more charm on my bracelet and I pulled it out and looked at it. It was a silver square that had mounted on one side an extra small starfish. It looked real but extra shiny like it had been dipped in varnish. I looked at my Mom questioningly.
It was Grandpa who answered though. "Uh Nessie, does that Starfish look familiar to you at all?" He asked.
With a clue like that how could I forget? "Oh, the tide pools!" I said smiling at the memory of fishing it out. I guessed that Grandpa had found a way to preserve it for me. Then as I examined it, turning the charm, I found the other side held a tiny picture embedded in the silver as though it were a picture frame. It was an image of me riding the lion during the trip to Sequim.
"I just don't want you to forget about your Grandpa when you get to New Hampshire." He said and shrugged. "I want you to remember all of the fun things we've done here in Fork. That way you'll miss me and want to come back and visit me again."
Okay, now I was really crying and I got it this time. I was going to miss my Grandpa so much that it hurt just to think about it. I ran into his arms and tried to scrunch up my face to help me stop. The last thing I needed was for everyone to say only two year olds cried. Then I'd be back to celebrating my actual birthday instead of my relative birthday. Dang it! But try as I might, I just couldn't help getting all weepy whenever I thought about leaving the oldest man in the family. Well okay, maybe I really mean the oldest looking man in the family. He just 'gets' me and I loved him. 'Help me put it on okay, Grandpa." I requested when I'd pulled away and held out my arm. There were tears in his eyes too.
"Huh, it must be starting rain and I got some drops right in my eyes." He said gruffly. I laughed as he batted his eyes dry and clasped the beautiful bracelet to my arm.
"I love this present!" I said as I looked at everyone. Somehow the happy, excited atmosphere had changed slightly. It was more melancholy; time to change that. This was my birthday! "So what treats do we have for breakfast here?" I said eying the pancakes and strawberries.
"Yes!" Jacob said eagerly.
Grandpa added his, "Mmm, now you're singing my song."
While we ate, Mom and Dad sat at the table with us. "Nessie, your Grandpa Charlie came up with an interesting idea that we thought we might run past you." Mom said as I tackled my second pancake.
"Oh, and what would that be?" I asked paying half attention as I chewed.
"Well," She began again and I felt all four of them with their eyes on my face. "What would you think about attending Elementary School?"
What was Mom talking about? This was Grandpa's idea? I was shocked. "But what could I possibly learn in Elementary School?" I asked confused. "I already know everything that can be learned there." I was confused. I knew they already knew that. Heck, they were my primary instructors when it came to my education.
"Well Nessie," This was from Grandpa, who had just finished his last bite full of pancake. "There is one thing you could learn from being around kids that are well 'sort of' your age…or at least, the age that you appear to be. That is how to interact with your peers."
"That sounds like it might be fun." I replied slowly. "But what about my growing too fast? I look eight or nine now, but in six months I'll look more like I'm ten or eleven probably. I mean I know it will start to slow down, but I'll look like a teenager before that really starts happening, right?"
"Grandpa had an idea about that too," Dad chimed in. "He knew that we'd be moving in two months and the experiment could end then. Or, if it turned out to be something that you enjoyed doing, you could use it to learn more about people and relationships; we could change your information and place you in an older class when we move to New Hampshire. Then we could move you around to different school districts halfway through the year and at the same time fix your records to put you into an older grade again. That would raise your grade over there a total of four times for the two years we're there."
I started to get a little excited when I thought about the possibilities. I could have friends—regular friends. That could be a lot of fun.
"It would be tricky." Mother cautioned me as she read the excitement in my eyes. "You would do well in class, but you would need to learn to act 'normal' to everyone else in the class. You wouldn't be able to talk in class about books an eight year old wouldn't read; for an example."
"You wouldn't be able to run and jump way faster than the rest of the kids, either." Jacob chimed in nudging me playfully.
"It would be an experiment." Dad reminded me, speaking the words slowly. "To see if you could fit in with your environment, as well as develop friendships with some of the kids who at least 'look' your age. If you want to give it a try we can enroll you and you could start…oh, say the fourth grade tomorrow."
"Really?" I asked excitedly. I could hardly stop bouncing in my seat. "I want to!!!! I can't wait!"
"Well then, Forks Elementary School—get ready, Nessie Cullen is on the campus!" Mom said in a tone that mirrored my own.
I was just warming up to the possibilities when Mom interrupted my reverie. "Renesmee, later this afternoon your Grandma Renee will be arriving." She began carefully. It was easy to see that she was anxious about this but I already knew Mom's Mom didn't know anything about me. So I was a little surprised when she continued. "I spoke with her two days ago and sort of explained to her our cover story of who you are." Oh, so I was going to get passed off as Dad's niece that Mom and Dad adopted. Well, at least I wouldn't be a complete surprise to her. "She was very upset that I didn't tell her sooner." Mother had a look of chagrin on her face that I didn't understand. My poor mom looked conflicted as she tried to explain to me. "It was just that I thought she would be upset about becoming a grandmother because she liked to feel like she was young. But Renee has once again surprised me. She was excited about the wedding when I thought she'd throw a fit and she was excited to learn about you too."
I didn't know what to say. I wanted to cry. Here I had been nervous about meeting my Grandma Renee because my Mother didn't think she wanted to think of herself as a grandmother and just the opposite was true. I suddenly didn't care if she thought I was adopted. She still wanted me! "Really?" I breathed. "Grandma Renee wants to know me?" I felt a lightening of my heart that made me want to sing. In fact I did. Sure I changed the lyrics a little but it went like this as I twirled around and Rex who had patiently sat by my side and ate his share of my pancakes and now danced around with me as I sang:
Don't walk away Renee
And I can't wait until you're at my home
A special place within my heart is here for you to claim
Without you it's not the same—Don't walk away.
Everyone clapped dutifully when I finished and then as I sat back down with my newest fan Rex, who rested his head in my lap.
Mother spoke up again. "Remember Nessie, Grandma Renee is a tricky one. It will be very important that you not use your talents where she can see them. She must not suspect there is anything different with you at all." What was the matter with my Mom? Was she getting paranoid or what?
"You see Nessie," This was from my Grandpa. "Your Grandma Renee would not understand about your gifts. She would not understand about being your biological grandmother when by your appearance, your mommy would have to have had you by the time she was twelve years old herself. So for her own piece of mind, it would be better to stick with the standard story with her."
Well, apparently my Grandpa was paranoid too. Or maybe Mom was on the right track with this one and I should just trust them. What was I thinking? Of course I trusted them. I knew they would never have asked me to cultivate this charade with my Grandma Renee unless it was necessary and at least I'd still get to meet her.
My father gave me a knowing smile as he listened to me reason it out in my brain. He gave me his signature crooked grin and I knew he approved of my conclusions. "Acting normal will be good practice for you as well—for when you go to school tomorrow too." He chimed in as he mussed-up my hair.
"Hey, You don't want me to meet her with my hair all askew do you?" I fake growled at him.
"Ha!" As if your Aunt Alice would ever let that happen." Dad scoffed.
"And if you think you can sneak by her—you're Aunt Rose will step in." Mom chirped at his side.
I rolled my eyes. "Oh, I'm shaking in my shoes here." I added sarcastically.
"When did you get so cheeky?" Mother moaned.
"Mom," I whined. "Not all of us hate getting 'dolled up'. In fact at last count—you are the only one who NEVER likes it!" I said as I dodged her swat. She had quickly gathered up her foam bat again. She was grinning from ear to ear. I couldn't help myself though I hd so much fun teasing my Mom.
"Well, I want both of my girls looking sharp and pretty today." Dad said expansively. "Not just for Grandma either. Today is a big day for both of you. Today you both turn two."
"Okay, I get that Nessie is only two." Grandpa said in exasperation. "But I don't see where Bella gets in on the 'turning two' action." He had his hands on his hips and was slowly shaking his head. "You know her birthday isn't for three more days and then she'll be twenty one—not two!"
"Twenty one years on the earth Dad," Mother said in a careful qualifying way. "But Edward is counting today as my second year from changing after Nessie was born."
"Oh," Grandpa said a little shaken. "Say no more on that subject. I'll stick with celebrating your birthday on the thirteenth with everyone."
"No problem Dad," Mom replied smiling widely at him.
"I like the idea of keeping the days separate for a while too." Dad added as his arms wound their way around Mom's waist. "That way Bella gets a day all to herself to be the center of attention." Everyone laughed as Mom's face took on a pained scowl.
"Just great," She muttered. "I thought I was going to get around all of that. You know me too well."
"Well," Daddy said looking around at everyone before settling his gaze on me. "I know everyone is waiting anxiously up at the house for you Renesmee so we'd better get a move on. Besides that, we only have another hour before your Mommy will be sitting with Mia."
"Oh, is that the pregnant girl you were telling me about?" Grandpa asked Mommy.
"Yes, she is." Mom replied simply.
"Okay then let's go!" I said ready to see the rest of my presents. Then I thought about something else. "Hey, can Rex come with us?"
"Of course he can," Mother said quickly. "Only he may have to stay outside. I don't know if Grandma Esme will want a dog in the house."
"Hey!" Jake said in amusement. "She lets me in all the time."
"I'm glad you said that instead of me." Daddy told him with a grin. "I would have gotten in double trouble if I had said it."
***
There was an even bigger celebration at the big house that awaited our arrival. But before it could start, Aunt Alice had me whisked upstairs and presentable before anyone got an eyeful of me with what she referred to as 'bed head'. I wore a beautiful lavender pant suit and every hair was in place before I was released to meet my audience. Aunt Rose had a pretty hefty camera flashing nonstop. I guessed my bracelet was the theme for my presents that day. Every gift was tied to a charm that got added to my new-to-me silver links. Jasper put a charm of a tiny golden chess piece. It was the 'queen' piece of course. Then he handed me a beautifully wrapped present and of course inside was a chessboard. It had drawers underneath the playing area and inside was golden and silver pieces.
"Wow, Uncle Jasper! This is soooo cool!" I told him as he snapped his charm in place. He smiled widely. "Well, I am looking forward to showing you some new moves to try out on your father." He said in a sneaky way. You'll have to figure out how to keep him out of your head though."
"Already done!" I said while pretending to check it off a mental list in my head. "I'll have my mother shield me."
"Hey!" Daddy said in mock outrage. "That is so NOT fair."
"No," Emmett said grinning maniacally. "It is finally TOTALLY fair!" He gave me a wink as he corrected my Dad.
Aunt Alice gave me a special charm that was like a miniature crystal ball. Inside was a tiny drawing that I recognized as some I had seen before; of one's she draws from her visions. I could just make out that it was a drawing of a couple dressed in wedding attire. Wait, the woman had long bronze curly hair and the man was dark skinned with dark hair. I gasped and looked up at her with wide eyes. "You've seen it?" I breathed. I just stood shocked as she smiled brilliantly and shrugged her shoulders. I gave her a hug while hearing my father's exasperated sighs behind me. No one else knew what I had seen inside of the little charm. After she had secured the charm in place she pointed me to Aunt Rose who had another tiny charm dangling from her hand.
"This is a tiny mirror. I want you to always remember that you are the fairest of them all. And coming from me—that's really saying something." She raised an eyebrow as she glanced about the room as though daring anyone to try to challenge her. I guessed correctly that I ought not to point out that she was actually still very much the fairest of them all.
"Thank you Aunt Rose. I love you so much." I said giving her a hug. She held me tightly for a while and I was surprised to hear her breathing come out in a gasp. Why had we both become so emotional at the same time?
"I love you too, Nessie." She whispered. Then she attached my new charm while she added, "And I'm going to school with you tomorrow."
"What? Aunt Rose, you can't pass yourself off as a nine year old. I mean, we're talking fourth grade here!" I gently chided her.
"I know that," She mused. "I'm going to be a 'teacher's assistant' for the duration of our stay here. So I can be on hand to help you if you need it."
"Really!" I said excitedly. "Now I am even more ready to go tomorrow!" I was touched that she was so supportive of my education. Aunt Rose really loved me—ALMOST as much as my parents did. She was wonderful.
Emmett cleared his throat by my side and I looked up at him to see a charm of what was obviously an anaconda. I rolled my eyes. "Well, tell me you won't think of me every time you see this snake charm!" He laughed loudly. "And my main present is of course outside, but it isn't quite ready for the big reveal. The grand opening will be this Saturday when we officially celebrate your mother's 'human' birthday. Before I knew it the Anaconda charm was in place next to the mirror.
Then Seth came up from the back where he had stood with the rest of Jacob's pack and presented me with a charm of an Indian Thunderbird. They had told me the legend of the Thunderbird before and it was a great addition to my suddenly full bracelet. "Hey, thank you guys. You're the best!" I said as I gave him a hug but looked over to Quil and Embry too.
"Wait, don't forget about us," Leah said as she and Nahuel added a tiny black jaguar next to Jacob's wooden wolf.
"Wow, thanks Leah! Nahuel!" I said practically bouncing up and down.
"Okay, last but not least, it's our turn." Grandfather said as he and Grandma stepped forward. In Grandma Esme's hand hung a tiny green charm that looked like a brontosaurus of some sort.
"Oh, come on you guys, you're not THAT old!" I said sarcastically. Everyone laughed except Grandpa Charlie who looked confused before shrugging it off. "I mean a dinosaur?"
"No, Nessie, not a dinosaur. Well, maybe it is actually. It is a plesiosaur." Grandfather said patiently as Grandma affixed the charm to my wrist. "This particular one is in the likeness of a plesiosaur or 'sea serpent' that is believed to inhabit the waters of Loch Ness, Scotland.
"Of course, this creature is mythical and steeped in legend. But because there have been so many sightings, the people of Scotland have nick named her 'Nessie'" Grandma added fondly.
"Hey! That's my name!" I said in surprise.
"Actually it's a nickname that Jacob gave you." Mother piped up dryly.
"Yeah, nearly got my throat ripped out for that one too!" Jacob replied with a roll of his eyes.
"Okay…so I'm nicknamed after this supposedly mythical dinosaur that some people claim to have seen more recently than the dinosaur era then?" I asked trying to piece everything together.
"Yes," Jacob interjected quickly to placate me. "And I mean it as affectionately as the good people of Scotland mean it for their Nessie."
I gave him a look. I was trying for exasperated but what could I say. I couldn't be mad at my Jacob. Every time I looked at him—I was just--happy. Especially after what Alice gave me. My look was probably more like amused tolerance. Then he blew me a kiss and I blushed furiously. I had to gulp to keep from sighing. I turned back to Grandfather to focus on his words as he continued.
"So, we have decided to take the entire family to Inverness, Scotland to see this beautiful country and learn about this legend."
Grandma held up several airline tickets and I jumped up and down in anticipation. "When?" I nearly shouted.
"Well, it will probably have to wait until the next Spring Break. Your Mom and Dad are going to be carrying pretty full loads…" I cut Grandma off.
"That will be perfect. And my parents are geniuses too, so it shouldn't be a problem for them at all." I gushed. Then I caught sight of my Grandpa standing in the corner. He seemed sad about something. "But what about Grandpa? Can't he and Sue come too?" I asked with pleading in my eyes.
"I actually thought about that already." Grandma said as she pulled out two more tickets. "They meet us in New York for our flight from there. That is if you can get the time off Charlie…" She added looking at Grandpa's shocked expression.
"I-I'm sure I can." He stammered. "This is very kind of you to think to include Sue and I."
"Well Charlie, you're part of our family now." Grandma said gently. "Of course we want you with us."
"I can't wait!" I said buoyantly. "I'm going to find my name's sake. I'm going to find the Loch Ness Monster! Who wants to help me?" I asked breathlessly to a room full of raised hands.
[A/N: The trip to Inverness, Scotland will not be included in my Fan Fiction—at least not at this time.]
