The Flower Moon


Year Eight, Chapter Fifteen

Friend or Foe?


Renesmee's Point of View


For the first time in a long time I was actually all by myself. I thought I would enjoy having a little peace and quiet for once but after only an hour I started feeling a little lonely.

Felicity was currently having a Calculus lesson with Aunt Rosalie via Skype and Jake had taken David out to patrol. Not that there was really a Vampire problem around here, he just wanted to show David what to do, just in case. I think David's broken leg scared Jake enough to amp up the kid's training. He even suggested he and I resume weekly fight training, "just to keep things fresh," as he put it.

Reading my Father's journals always made me feel better so I decided to head upstairs and resume reading where I had left off. I wished my Mother had gotten into the habit, but sadly she only read books, technically the same few books over and over, she didn't write them, if you could even call a diary a book. Sometimes I couldn't believe how boring my Father's life was before he met my Mom.

As I flipped to where I'd left off I was pleasantly surprised to see a reference to the Quileute Tribe. They were only briefly mentioned when my Father, Grandparents, Aunt Rose and Uncle Emmett moved to Washington for the first time, along with the treaty that my Grandfather had brokered with Jacob's Grandfather, Ephraim Black. Apparently my family hadn't stayed long in the area after learning of the existence of the Wolves. Just a few years instead of the six or seven they had planned.

Eventually things had settle back down, into a routine for my Father, until the Second World War broke out, and the family had to pretty much go into hiding. Since almost every able bodied male in the entire United States was off fighting, it would look a little odd to have three perfectly capable young men not involved in the war effort somehow.

My Grandfather wanted to help out at a field hospital somewhere, but couldn't stand the thought of being away from Grandma Esme that long. So they all went up to Denali to hide out and live with our cousins, for a while.

Yikes! I don't think I should be reading all of this stuff about Tanya. I didn't realize her and my Father had such an interesting history with each other. I wonder if my Mother knows about this. Not that I would ask her, but maybe I'd have a chat with Tanya next time I saw her.

Once the war ended the family moved to Chicago. It brought some relief and stability until the arrival of Aunt Alice and Uncle Jasper. I laughed out loud when I got to the part where my Father had returned home from hunting one day to find all of his belongings in the garage. But it made perfect sense, if you knew my Aunt. She wanted… needed the biggest room, his room. Taking it over was the only logical solution, in order to house her massive wardrobe.

Things settled back down after that. Mostly boring stuff. High School. College. Relocate. High School. College. Relocate. High School. College. Relocate. Pretty routine and repetitive. There were some comments about how he didn't appreciate some of the thoughts about him from the female co-eds in high school and always looked forward to when he could escape them in college, until eventually he couldn't. Not that there were a lot of women attending universities back then but enough that it took awhile for my Father (and probably ever other male) to get use to it.

Seeing how he also mentioned, over and over, how he preferred the more prudish (my word, not his) fashion choices that returned in the '50s, it should be interesting to read what he thought of the miniskirts of the '60s.

I went to grab the next journal when my phone started ringing. Who could be calling me at this hour?

"Hello?" I didn't recognize the number.

"Renesmee my dear, it is so good to hear your voice again," a familiar voice greeted me.

"Oh… I um," gulp, "Hi," was the only thing that came to mind to say. Dumb I know, but I started to go into panic mode. I shouldn't have though; I knew I would hear from them eventually. Were they coming back? Soon?


"Morning Mom," David called as he walked into the kitchen and plopped himself down at the table. I had gotten up early to make everyone a big fancy breakfast, which included his favorite blueberry pancakes.

I was hoping all the food would keep everyone… calm, preoccupied. Crap! I knew all hell was about to break loose and I just was hoping to minimize it somehow.

"You're up early." My plan wasn't off to a very good start. "I thought, after last night, you would have slept in later. Have a seat," I tried to smile, "breakfast is almost ready."

I had gotten the warning phone call from Jennifer early enough yesterday, that when Jake and David finished patrolling I was able to suggest a late night hunting trip to everyone, which they eagerly agreed to. Just like I had hoped both my kids tired themselves out and passed out soon after we got home. Jake never seemed to tire so easily but I had a few other tricks up my sleeve, reserved just for him, after I'd made sure kids were zonked out, that I thought would help him sleep in fairly late this morning.

I was carrying a large bowl of fruit to the table when, had it not been for my enhanced Half-Vampire reflexes, I almost dropped the thing. It wasn't until then that I realized how much my hands were shaking.

Yikes, I was worried.

Hopefully he gets here before Jake wakes up. I need to talk to him. I needed to know why he's returned. If he was back for the reason I feared I would immediately have to put a stop to it. Again.

When he left, Nahuel left a note saying that he wanted to reconnect with his family. That's why he took Jennifer to Brazil to meet Huilen. But when his sister called the other day, she told me that only Nahuel would be arriving today, she'd decided to stay with Huilen and Roberto. She explained that she missed her home too much, but promised that we would meet again, someday.

It didn't make any sense. Nahuel left his only remaining family behind to stay with us. Why?

I'm sure there was a logical reason behind it. I just didn't know what it was. But whatever the reason I had a feeling Jake wasn't going to be happy about it, because the only thing jumping to my mind was me, and that was definitely going to lead to a fight between the two of them. But I had chosen Jacob. There wasn't any reason for any competition between the two of them anymore. He had to know that. They both did. Right?

At least David would probably be happy Nahuel was coming back. He got along so well with Nahuel the last time they saw each other. And I'd told Felicity all about Nahuel and Jennifer and was sure they were going to be great friends. My daughter seemed to get along with everybody.

My son started piling pancakes on his plate, blissfully unaware of my worries as I continued bring the rest of the food to the table. I'd wanted to be able to talk to Nahuel in private, before anyone woke up, to figure out his intentions, but I guess that wasn't going to happen now. Right now I tried to concentrate on breakfast.

Let's see – two dozen muffins, thirty pancakes, two bottles of syrup, three packages of bacon, two cartons of now scramble eggs, a bowl of strawberries, and three gallons of fresh squeezed orange juice. Was I missing anything? No, I don't think so. I believe I made enough of everyone's favorite breakfast foods.

It was part a welcome home for Nahuel, part a celebration for my kids for their friends return (well future friend in Felicity's case, I hoped), and partially, well mostly, a buttering up of my soulmate.

This is going to be a long morning, I sighed to myself.

"Huh?" David asked.

Oops, did I say that out loud? "Nothing," I waved my hand, "just talking to myself."

Where was he? For twenty minutes now I've been listening for the cab that Nahuel would be arriving in. His flight was supposed to have landed at Logan Airport two and a half hours ago. Factoring in having to go through customs and traffic leaving Boston meant he should be arriving any minute now.

Come on, come on, come on. If he didn't get here soon Jake would be up and I wouldn't get my chance beforehand.

A few minutes later, he arrived just slightly behind schedule. I would have to work fast.


Jacob's Point of View


I don't know what had gotten into Nessie last night but she couldn't get enough of me (or I wasn't able to satisfy her). No, judging by the smile she permanently wore last night I knew it was the former, not the later theory. Last night was amazing and also the first lime she outlasted me in bed. I was so tired I don't even remember falling asleep. Not that I was complaining. I enjoyed last night's activities immensely. Normally I don't get tired from physical activities, only mental exhaustion, but whatever had gotten into Nessie, it was amazing.

Mmmm, she smelled delicious. I reached out to grab her and pull her closer to me, so I could hold her in my arms but all my hand found were empty sheets. Opening my eyes I saw I was alone in bed. Sniffing the air told me her amazing scent was coming from the kitchen, but it was mixed with my second favorite smell on the planet – food. Nessie must be cooking breakfast. I was about to head out there when I remembered I needed clothes. We had kids now.

After throwing on some pants I entered the kitchen and saw everyone already sitting at the table. I guess I was the last one up. David was already chomping away at a plate piled high with pancakes. And Nessie was huddled over Felicity in some sort of close conversation at the table. Wait, no that wasn't Felicity behind Nessie. It was Nahuel.

I hadn't realized he was coming back. His note said he would, but part of me didn't actually believe him.

"Oh good morning, sweetheart," Nessie said, jumping up from the table.

"Hello darling," I replied, placing a kiss on her forehead. "Nahuel, you're back. Where's your sister? Is she gonna be coming over soon for breakfast?" Nessie must have invited both of them over.

"No, I'm afraid Jennifer has decided to stay with my Aunt Huilen, in Brazil. She says she misses home too much."

"So you decided to come back here? Alone?" That didn't make much sense. Why would he do that?

Damn-it! Reality dawned on me a second later. He was back for what he couldn't have! I started to see red as my anger shot up.

"You don't seriously still think you still have a chance with her, do you?" How could he still be after my Nessie after all this time? We have two children together, for crying-out-loud.

"Relax, honey. It's not what you think," Nessie whispered in my ear after locking me in her arms. It was more of a hug than a restraint, but I knew she could hold on tighter if needed, but first she merely trying to calm me down. She knew me so well, even with her help I was struggling to gain control and not phase in the middle of the kitchen. It's what I thought at first, too. But that's what we were just talking about. Nahuel knows that we're together, that we're in love, that he can never separate us. You know that, I know that, and he knows that, she added with her gift, I guess not wanting David to hear.

"Good morning everyone," Felicity called as she came waltzing into the kitchen, breaking some of the tension in the air. "Oh, hello," she smiled, seeing Nahuel for the first time.

Nahuel looked over to my daughter and I watched as his scowl, that my words to him had caused, lifted and a smile replaced it. "Ah, good morning, little darling. My you're growing up to be just as beautiful as your Mother," he replied as he grabbed her hand and brought it to his lips for a kiss. "You must be Felicity. Renesmee has told me all about you. I'm a friend of your parents, I'll be seeing you around, I suspect. I live in the house right next door." Then he turned and looked at my still seething form and decided wisely that it was time for him to leave.

"What's going on guys? Why are you so mad at that guy, Dad?" Felicity asked us, after Nahuel left and she made her way over to the table, calmly grabbing a plate full of food for herself.

"That's Nahuel," David somehow managed to answer even with a mouth stuffed full of food. "Mom and him use to have a thing. Dad doesn't want us to know but he's a little jealous," he said stretching his hands out as far as they could go, "and worried that he's come back to steal Mom away," he chuckled.

Of course David had had seen everything, that had gone on between the three of us, in my mind, at some point, when we were phased.

"That's not why he's here," Nessie objected. "We're just friends now, so I don't want to hear any more on the subject."

I wished I could believe my Nessie. I'm sure she believed her own words, it's not like she would lie to me, but sometimes she was just so blind and gullible when it came to Nahuel.

But then as the real truth dawned on me, the realization was even worse, or at least equal in its horribleness. It can't be her that he wants. He just met her. There's no way. I'm just overreacting. Calm down, calm down, calm down, I kept telling myself. No! Not Felicity, not my daughter!

Yet there was that kiss on her hand. Could it have been nothing more than just a friendly greeting? I didn't think anything of it at first, I was too obsessed, not with jealousy, like Dave had accused (I was the one who got Nessie, I had nothing to be jealous about) but annoyed with his impertinence, to think of anything else. But now... if that kiss meant something more... and the way he smiled at her… I was going to rip those lips right off of his face. That was my daughter. There was no way he was touching her.

"No," I seethed through clenched teeth, "he can't have her."

Nessie grabbed my arm and dragged me out of the room and outside the house while I started picturing that day in the woods when Nessie appeared around fifteen years old. Nahuel was telling her how he thought she was old enough to become his mate. Argh! Felicity also looked like she was fifteen, even if she was really only five months old, depending on how you looked at it.

"Her?" Nessie questioned me now that we were outside and away from our children and all of the other breakable stuff in the house. She must have seen that she was no longer able to effectively calm me down and was worried I would phase in the middle of the kitchen. I couldn't argue that she was wrong. I might still burst into my Wolf form any minute now.

"Her who?" she asked again when I didn't answer right away.

"Felicity!" Wasn't it obvious? "Didn't you see the way he kissed her?"

"Oh please, Jake," she scoffed. "It was just her hand, he was just being friendly. Besides I know for a fact it isn't her that he's interested in. It's true that he's here because he's in love, but not with her. They just met after all. He came back for someone else entirely."

Someone else? "Who?"

"I don't know, he didn't say, but I think it's safe to assume that our daughter is safe from the scary, evil, Nahuel," she sarcastically admonished me.

"And you believe him?"

"Yes I do. You should have seen the look in his eyes when he was talking about her. He seems to be infatuated. Apparently they had been together before he left and he couldn't wait any longer to get back to her."

"But he never mentioned who she was?" That's strange. Could it be true? I hadn't realized he knew anyone else in the area. Sure, he'd lived on his own for a number of months. I guess he could have met someone back then. But why had he never mentioned her before? Or brought her around to meet everyone? "Is she a Vampire? Is that why he never introduced us to her?"

"Honey, I don't know. But for some reason he wants to keep her identity a secret, for now. He said he was afraid to lose her."

"Oh." I started to calm down. But not completely. It still felt like something was off about this.


A.N. Thanks for reading.

So what do you think? Can Nahuel be trusted? Do you believe him?

Please review and let me know.