Revolving Worlds - Book Three

2060

Chapter Two

The First Goodbye

Renesmee's Point of View

Alice had been checking weekly. We knew it was close. The moment she saw that everyone was gone our things were packed and the family went to repair whatever was damaged.

Felicity and Jennifer stayed behind to take care of the livestock and continue working on their never ending wedding planning. Who needs a decade to plan a wedding? At the rate they were going the century would be over before my daughter got married. I knew it wasn't Felicity holding things up. If her Imprintee wanted to get married tomorrow she would do whatever it took to make it happen.

With the wars dying down the refugees had slowly begun vacating Isle Esme, and finally last month we got word that it was just about empty. With Jasper's contacts and the family's resources we were able to help relocate the last remaining holdouts into new homes; better than what they had left.

"Three hundred people on one tiny island can sure do a lot of damage," Jasper remarked once we disembarked the boat and took a look around, making a list of all the damage.

"Please, Rose and I did a lot worse in the 1980s." Instead of her usual smack to the back of his head, his wife just gave him a look. "What? We fixed everything and Esme never new."

"Until now," Edward chuckled and Esme gave him a very rare scowl before shaking her head, her anger quickly dissipating.

It took us over three weeks to fix everything, mostly due to the fact that we needed to wait for supplies. The house wasn't big and didn't require much, but it took awhile for all of the needed supplies to be, not only delivered, but ordered.

It wasn't until we got here that we found out that there was no longer a cell phone signal on the island. Something probably had gotten screwed up due to the wars; there wasn't really any way to check, but it did slow us down.

Eventually everything was back to the way it looked before; actually now it was better. Along with a few other upgrades, and much to Jake's delight, central air had been installed. Because of his high body temperature he wasn't bothered by the cold, but too much heat made him uncomfortable.

We were packing our bags, getting ready to leave when Esme came into our room.

"We're almost done," I assured her. Through the window I could see everyone else already in the boat.

"Actually I was thinking that you might like to stay for a month or two. You never got a real honeymoon and this place is just going to be sitting here empty."

I was about to argue with her, I loved our Antarctic honeymoon, but Jake gave me a look that told me he really wanted to stay so I kept my mouth shut.

It would be nice, just the two of us. Esme said that Jasper and Alice had volunteered to look after our livestock, relieving our daughter and Jennifer, so Jake and I could relax and not have to worry about anything for a change.

The last time we were here was back when Jake and I were first trying to get pregnant. The weather this time was so much better than back then, no thunderstorms, not even a cloud in the sky. It was perfect. Paradise. The way it was supposed to be. I still had to travel to the main land, like my family, to hunt every few weeks. Most large animals were gone, but smaller rodents were still plentiful, not getting knocked out to the brink of extinction like everything else. And I had my choice of quite a few species. With the normal predators gone they were on the verge of an overpopulation problem, which I was more than willing to help out with.

The extra two months on the island were wonderful, yet over too soon. Before long we were on a plane and it was back to reality.

Carlisle and Esme greeted us at the airport. I would have thought my parents would have been the ones to pick us up.

"I'm afraid they couldn't be here," Carlisle said. "We'll explain everything in the car. There are too many... people around that could overhear." He was being cryptic, but whatever the reason it seemed that it was of the supernatural variety.

Once the last door of Carlisle's Beamer closed Esme began. "Your grandson, William has been phoning us in your absence. It seems that he tried calling you, but after a week and a half and you never calling back he began calling us. We explained that no phones on the island were able to receive a signal, but he continued to call you, hoping that you had returned. He has also continued to call us more than a few times looking for you. He sounded pretty upset and it seemed that whatever he wanted to tell you was urgent, but he wouldn't tell us any details at first, only saying that he needed to talk to you, directly. Felicity also tried, but he wouldn't even talk to his Aunt. If we'd known it was so serious..." she broke off, seeming too upset by whatever it was to continue. I wished she'd just say it. This waiting was annoying. "He said he'd only speak with one of you. He kept calling and we kept explaining to him that you were on your second honeymoon, unreachable by phone. Finally when he called again yesterday he told us what had happened. Bella and Edward left immediately to retrieve you, but you must have just missed them."

"I'm afraid we have some bad news," Carlisle continued for his wife, once we'd pulled up to the house. He was completely in his doctor mode, using the soothing voice he'd perfected over the centuries, to deliver bad news to a patient. "Let's go into the house and sit down."

Now I was nervous. I'd already thought I'd lost my parents once. I didn't want to go through something like that again, but just like last time, my body went stiff and Jake had to carry me into the house. After he placed me on the couch Carlisle was about to continue, but I managed to ask the one question that worried me most, "My parents?" It was all I could get out, but he understood.

So did Esme, who told me they were in their room… grieving. They must have been frozen too. That's why my grandparents had picked us up.

Oh my goodness. Someone was dead. But who?

"There's no easy way to say this," Carlisle continued, "but your son's wife, Janet, has passed away."

He let us process the news for a few minutes before continuing. "I spoke with the coroner over the phone. She said it was a heart attack."

What? But it's 2061. Who dies from a heart attack anymore?

Carlisle theorized that it probably had something to do with the bite she received from Stefan in her youth, and my grandfather's partially botched attempt at preventing her change, injecting her with the anti-venom he'd developed for Jacob. Her death, he said, had only been postponed. He felt awful, but it wasn't his fault, and I told him as much. Not that it comforted him. Or me. Or Jacob.

DAVID!

It had been years since Jake had weekly check-ins with David and our grandkids in his Spirit Form. Now he only checked in about once a month. They had decided, collectively, that they no longer felt they needed him to keep such close tabs on them, all the time, like he was their babysitter or something, especially now that we were living closer and Jake and I could go visit in person.

At first Jake was heartbroken; he liked his weekly check-ins with our son and grandkids, but then eventually came to accept it. They were adults, they didn't need him checking up on them all the time. And besides, they had argued, they were also part-Wolf and part-Vampire, sort of. Our granddaughter, Sepideh wasn't a Wolf, she just carried the gene. She was part-Vampire however, though I wasn't sure how strong that part was. She was slightly stronger and faster than a normal human, but she aged like one. Her brother, William did too, now that he'd stopped phasing to grow old with his wife, Penny. Matthew was my only grandchild who was currently still a Wolf, refusing to give it up. Even after all these years he was still looking for his Imprint.

When Jacob last phased into his Spirit Form on the island it must have been right before Janet died. Not knowing anything was wrong didn't plan to again until sometime after we'd returned home. That mixed with the lack of phone service meant that it was a good four, almost five weeks between the time of Janet's death and when Jake and I heard the news.

If I'd even thought it was a possibility... but people just didn't die of heart attacks in their late 40's, not with today's medical technology. I didn't think I had to worry about my son losing his wife for another sixty or seventy years.

Now Janet was gone, and unfortunately... tragically that led me to only one conclusion. David was dead as well. Sam and Jared had passed away around a week after their Imprints did, of seemingly natural causes, but they clearly had both died from broken hearts.

The same must have happened to David. Despite his failed attempts to try and grow old with his Imprint, to prevent such a thing from happening, even quitting phasing for two decades, he had too much Vampire in him and never started aging normally. Despite the grief I felt for the loss of my son, I was... happy wasn't the right word... relieved that he would not suffer the pain of existing without his Imprint. Death seemed like a better alternative than going on living without ones Soulmate. To me anyway.

Jake and I planned to make the trip back to La Push the following morning. It wasn't like there was any rush though. Dead was dead. Our grandchildren must have already held a funeral and buried them. But we needed to go and say goodbye.

Jake was pacing up and down the room. Clearly the stress was overwhelming him and he was struggling not to phase, so I suggested that he do so. Why fight doing something that would help, I reasoned. I only wished I could do the same, and planned to break down and cry in a minute, myself. But first I needed to do something. I needed to hear for myself how the grandkids were holding up.

Just as I was punching in the last number to call my eldest son Jake came running back into the house, picked me up and twirled me around.

"HE'S ALIVE!" Jake screamed. He seemed happy-ish, yet somewhat relieved, and also somehow also concerned. But I was only left confused.

"Who's alive?"

"David."

David? Jake's expression now made sense as mine now mimicked his. Relief, happiness, then confusion set in. How could it be? Technically no one said that David had died. Could it be true? He was actually alive? No, that would be just too cruel.

"You talked to him? As a Wolf?" I asked. That was a stupid question. Of course it had to have been as a Wolf. "How is he doing?" He must feel horrible losing his Imprint. "How's he holding-"

"Woe, woe, woe. Renesmee. Slow down. I didn't talk to him. He wasn't phased. Matthew was."

"Okay, so how did he say David was doing?"

"He didn't know. Actually he hasn't seen him in over a week. But if he was going to pass away from grief, like Sam and Jared, it would have happened weeks ago."

The brief moment of relief I just felt started to slip away. Jake didn't know our son was alive. Not for certain. "Jake…" How was I going to say this? I didn't want to crush him all over again. But I also couldn't let him get his hopes up. "He's part Vampire. It might take longer."

The realization dawned on Jake and his smile quickly disappeared.

We ditched our former plans and left immediately. My parents, daughter, Carlisle, and Rose all offered to come with us, but we declined, instead promising to call once we had any news.

Driving through the night we were in La Push before the sun was up. Both of us were exhausted. Soon we would learn that our son was dead, along with his wife, or my worst fears for this whole entire situation would come true. Life without your Imprint was worse than death.

After pulling up to David's house and not finding him there, Jake tried phasing again with no luck.

"Now what?" Jake said. He wasn't specifically asking me, just talking out loud. We already had called the grandkids and the Pack on the drive, with no luck. No one had seen him.

"If I'd died, instead of Janet, where would you be?" I shouldn't have asked that. Jake started growling and had to work hard to stop himself from phasing.

"Your grave," he eventually spat once he'd calmed down enough to talk. Or so I thought. Jake was silent, not even a growl, the entire drive to the cemetery.

As we exited the car and approached Janet's grave we saw something worse than we thought possible- David's lifeless body draped across his dead wife's headstone.

I was right. David's Vampire side had just made it take longer.

Though this would be better for him, I was going to miss my son. We'd just moved back, we were just starting to reconnect. Losing him now was more than unfair.

Argh!

How long had my son been out here? As I moved closer I noticed that his clothes looked damp. It had rained a couple days ago, but it didn't seem like any animals had gotten to him, not that their teeth would be able to pierce his skin.

No. Wait... it can't be. Can it?

"DAVID!" I ran the rest of the way over to our son. He wasn't dead, just... unconscious. His heartbeat was faint. Weak. But still there. Somehow.

"Huh? Ness... err, Mom? Dad?" he stuttered, coming back to consciousness. He looked like... I don't know... like the walking dead. Except he wasn't walking. He was barely standing.

"Come on. Let's get you home," Jake suggested.

"No! I can't leave her." His scream was as weak as he was right now. If we tried he wouldn't be able to stop us from carrying him home. But we didn't. What Jake and did do was help him to sit on the ground.

"How could this happen?" David eventually started wailing. It looked like talking was taking all of his strength, and his words came out slow and labored. His head was between his knees. The effort to lift it was too much. "Why couldn't I have joined her? I've tried so many different ways now. Every single way I could think of... I've tried. I have stabbed myself in the heart, shot myself in the head, tried to drown myself in the Pacific, the moment she passed away I stopped eating. No blood either. I just can't-"

No wonder he was so weak.

"I'm so sorry." I knew my words offered little comfort, as I grabbed our son into as tight of an embrace as I dared. I didn't want to accidentally hurt him.

When I unwrapped my arms David seemed to gather his strength and he sat up and looked us directly in the eyes. "Will you help me? I thought of asking Matthew, or Sepideh, or William, but that just seemed... I mean I couldn't do that to my own children. I know it is a lot to ask... but-"

Could we really say yes to such a request? Could we really help our son end his life? Jake looked saddened by what our son asked but hadn't adamantly said no. I didn't think I would be able to do it. But he was just so distraught, so miserable. Was life really worth living without your Soulmate? I knew the answer to that immediately – no, it wasn't. But how could I take the life of my own son?

"Maybe you could go to-" I was about to take the cowards way out and suggest that he ask the Volturi, when my daughter joined us. Jake had called Felicity when we first spotted David. It wasn't surprising that she'd show up. Or that Jennifer was with her. What did surprise me was that Leah and Angelina were with them. I had not called them and no one had talked to them in months, as far as I knew. Maybe Jake had when he'd phased.

Felicity immediately went up and hugged her brother. It had been over a month since they had last seen each other. Jennifer had come with her on her last visit, but this was the first time Leah had agreed to come back to La Push in decades. And it was also the first time her daughter had been here as well.

As soon as I turned to introduce them I saw something I wasn't expecting.

Is this possible? I quietly asked Jake. He just shrugged, his eyes going back and forth between the two of them. None of the Tribal legends had said that it would be. When Jake had first phased it was thought rare for a Wolf to Imprint. We now knew, after almost all Wolves Imprinted that that was untrue. But for a Wolf to Imprint TWICE was unheard of.

I guess anything is possible.

Nahuel and Leah's daughter was immortal, the child of a Half-Vampire, half-human father and a Wolf mother, just like David himself. He'd never have to worry about being alone again.

But this had happened so soon. He was still grieving over Janet. Was he ready to move on? To love again? To be loved again?

No. No he wasn't. It would take time. Jake and I stayed in La Push for a couple weeks making sure everything would be okay, but it didn't seem necessary.

David's Imprinting on Angelina had mended part of his broken heart. When they phased Jake saw how our son was no longer suicidal over the loss of Janet. He still loved her, and missed her, but now he was able to grieve her loss, healthily. And now he had room in his heart for another. I guess you could love two people.

Angelina knew David had Imprinted on her, just as much as she had on him. A two way Imprinting. As far as Jake knew it was a first.

She refused to leave La Push after that. Imprinting on David seemed to vanquish all of her behavioral issues. She'd known, she felt, that he wasn't ready for their relationship to be romantic though, not yet anyway. But she seemed prepared to wait. In time her patience may pay off. For now she became David's best friend. A shoulder to cry on, a confidant to confide in, someone to cheer him up when he needed it. And then when he was ready she'd wait some more, until they both were one hundred percent sure. It might be years or it might take decades. But they had time, they were both immortal.

The funeral and everything else had already been dealt with by our grandchildren, while Jake and I were still on Isle Esme, since David had been in no condition to do so. But now that Angelina and David had Imprinted other things needed to be addressed.

"What are we going to do with their house?" Emmett asked out of the blue. Hopefully he was thinking he and Rose could move in.

We'd all gathered in the main house where Carlisle, Esme, Bella, Edward, Alice and Jasper lived. They were less than twenty miles away from us, a five-minute run at most.

As hard as it is for me to admit it but Jacob had been right when he said that we should live alone for a while once we were married. Though I do love Rose and Emmett, they were loud and tended to break things more frequently than Jake and I did.

It would be nice to have some privacy. In the past when Jake and I'd lived alone it was out of necessity. This was before we got the idea to become ranchers and there weren't enough animals to hunt. It was more of a safety issue for those of us with blood to live apart from those who craved it. Not that my family would ever attack us, but tempting them was cruel. This could be the first time we would live apart voluntarily.

Jake and I'd been back from La Push for a week, but Leah had decided to stay in La Push with her daughter. It was a shame. After all the work Esme put in to renovating the house in Calgary for her and Angelina and everything Alice had done to decorate it, the house lay empty. Leah and Angelina never even moved in. Never even saw it.

Instead they found a little house in La Push, near David's, to live in and thanks to my family's connections, were able to quickly buy it, pushing through the paperwork in record time. They had also shipped all of Leah and Angelina's belongings to them last week. If and when David and Angelina's Imprinting ever turned romantic one of them would need to move again, but that was probably years away.

In addition to finally settling down again Leah also thought it was time to stop phasing. I wasn't sure how easy that would be for her but she said that she was at peace now. Saying that since her daughter was happy, she was happy. I hoped that she'd someday find her Imprint, but if she hadn't found him after almost sixty years we all knew the possibility was slight.

She wasn't the only one. Most of the La Push Wolves had Imprinted, but not all. My grandson Matthew being one of them. He'd refused to give up his Wolf in the hopes of finding her. He was so sure his Imprint was out there... somewhere, he just had to wait long enough and it would happen. Or so he thought. Leah seemed to be proof of the opposite.

"Should one of us call Ms. Bronte?" Jasper asked. She was the newest Jenks. It was odd that no one had thought to have her sell the house while she was purchasing the La Push one for Leah and Angelina.

"Why would we do that?" Rose asked as if the answer was obvious. My hopes started rising. If they were both on board it was almost a done deal. "Emmett and I'll be taking it. Why should Felicity and Jennifer be the only ones who get to live alone?"

Yes!

"Rose, babe, err..." Emmett looked like a little kid who got caught stealing a cookie. "When I said I wanted to use it as a playhouse... I thought... well I meant, I thought you understood that I was talking about me, Jasper and Jake. And Eddie. Maybe even Carlisle if he's up to a little fun. I thought it could be a place where we could play. You know... table tennis, darts, and computer games - virtual, 3-D, and holo. All the things Esme doesn't like us doing here." Emmett was giving Rose a look like he didn't understand her confusion. "You know how she hates it when we break her antiques. Isn't that what we agreed to last night when I said I needed a place to have fun?"

"I thought you meant a different kind of fun, darling," Rose looked at her husband in that suggestive manner that was referring to more of the night time variety of activities between mates.

"Oh," he replied, looking rather dumb.

"Well, if you'd rather spend your nights with Jasper instead of me," her expression turned sour, "then that's what you can do!" Rose snarled at him before getting up and storming out of the room.

Hmmm, I guess that settles that. A few of the family laughed quietly to themselves, not me, or Jake. It looked like any decision would have to wait until Rose calmed down and returned.

Thanks for reading, please review