Happy Monday! Thank you to my lovely reviewers of my first few chapters:

Fran S. Flower

TwihardFrom971

ForeverSwiss

Books and series lover

itsmesessa

Another big thank you to all of you out there that favorited and/or followed the story. Much appreciated!

I realize I haven't done any disclaimers yet, so I will fix that now! I do not own anything about the Twilight saga unfortunately! It's all S Meyer's.

Songs to set the mood to this chapter:

Roslyn by Bon Iver and St. Vincent- when Alice and Jasper first see Bella until they are about the leave

I want you to help me live by Bonjr, Thomas Reid, and versor- during Bella's story

Dandelion Wine by Gregory Alan Isakov- when Bella and Nessie are talking at the end

With that small sound, I felt the dam break and everything I had been repressing came rushing forward. Anger, sorrow, hurt, unfiltered joy. Pain shot through my body, almost as intense as when I was going through the change. Except that was just a slow, torturing burn. This. This was a hot knife stabbing me repeatedly. It was a stormy ocean raging and dragging me under. It made my knees buckle and I vaguely felt them give way. The floor was suddenly rushing towards me, someone wwa calling my name, and then it stopped. Soft, warm hands held me tightly, stopping the fall. With it, a wave of calm flooded through me, silencing the hold temporarily. I could still feel it lightly bat at the barrier to try and break through again. I followed the hands to the person they belonged to. Jasper. His face remained smooth and together but there was alarm in the golden pool of his eyes. Ah, right. He's the one making me feel calm, I thought numbly. He helped me back to my feet and kept a hand under my elbow to make sure I was stable. I looked back and forth between the two of them. "What are you guys doing here?" I asked, wishing my voice didn't sound so rattled.

They both raised their eyebrows at the sound of my musical voice. Alice said, "What are you doing here, Bella? You shouldn't be here!"

The words hit me like a punch in the gut. I let out a little pained gasp and felt the calmness intensify, immediately healing. Jasper. I jerked my arm away from him and took a step away from both of them, trying to keep my head clear. "I know this is your house and I have no business being here but I had no where else to go," I started to explain.

Jasper chimed in. "No, Bella. She doesn't mean in the house." My brows furrowed in confusion.

"You disappeared! I couldn't see you for a full year. I thought you had..." she trailed off, looking like she wanted to cry. Alice threw herself onto me and hugged me so tight, she probably would have broken many bones if I was still human. I stood still as stone, unsure as to what I should do. This was a very different reaction than I thought she would have to ever seeing me again. Part of me wanted to hug her back, be the friends we used to be. The other part of me wanted to pick up the small pixie and throw her into the river that flowed next to the house. Alice seemed to sense my discomfort and let me go, backing into Jasper. "I'm sorry, I didn't think-"

"It's fine. I just, I don't understand," I managed to get out. "I disappeared? You mean you were checking in on me?" My brain felt like it was going to explode. Why? Why would she be checking in on me?

"Of course I was. Ed-" I flinched and the hole used my distraction to break free of the calming influence. It stretched and tore some more, causing me to gasp and double over. Jasper groaned and held onto the hand rail of the stairs, feeling everything I was. Alice looked between us wildly, unsure of who to help or how she could.

"Pleae," I forced out. "Don't..don't say..." I couldn't make myself say his name, even now.

Turns out I didn't have to. Alice understood who I was referring to. She grabbed my hand and Jasper's, giving us support as I regained control of myself just enough to let Jasper's influence take over. I let go of Alice's hand and sat down on the step behind me. I heard Jasper hiss fiercely to her, "What the hell did he do?"

Alice squeezed his hand and turned back to me. "He," she censored. "Told me not to look for you. He said we needed to leave you alone to live your life. I listened for a little while, but I needed to know if you were okay. So I checked in and I couldn't see you. I talked to Carlisle about it right away, but he just said it was probably because we had been away from you for so long, I wasn't as tuned in to you anymore. He told me to respect his wishes and leave it alone, but I couldn't. I kept trying to find you but I couldn't. Eventually I just stopped. I tried not to assume the worst and that you were dead."

Dead. I was for a while. I died the day they all left and all secrets were laid bare. Renesmee was the one who brought me back to life. I only decided to live again for my daughter. But no, I didn't die physically. "I'm here," I said lamely. "I'm alive and fi...alive."

"And a vampire. I didn't see you change! I haven't seen you until we were on a plane to Denali yesterday and I had a vision of you taking a freaking bubble bath in my tub," Alice said, frustrated. I couldn't tell if she was frustrated at the situation or the fat I had used her tub. "Next thing I knew, I was dragging Jasper to a last minute flight to Forks."

A long pause followed as I took in the information. Slowly, I asked, "Does anyone know you're here or that you haven't seen me?" I couldn't ask the one question that really mattered. Did he know?

Alice's face was sad. "No. We haven't seen much of anyone since we left. They've all been doing their own things and not calling. Besides, I knew they wouldn't approve."

I nodded, absently tugging at my sleeve. Of course none of them would know. Alice probably knew they wouldn't really care. I was surprised she even cared enough to come back and check, but I'm sure it was just because I was using her bathtub. Or to find out if I really had died or something so she could tell everyone they were free to come back to Forks without worry of the pathetic little human drooling after their every move. I felt the familiar prickling sensation in my eyes like I was going to cry, but no tears could fall. I had already caused them so much trouble and now they were all separated and keeping secrets from each other. It would have been better if you never met them, another unwanted thought flitted through. I didn't shake this one off. It was right. He was right.

Jasper brought me out of my pity party. "Bella, what is that smell?" he asked, disgusted.

I almost could have laughed. Over the last couple of years, I had almost become desensitized to how bad Jacob smelled to me now. I had forgotten how repulsive vampires and werewolves always smelled to each other. It was a built in reminder that neither were each other's prey and they shouldn't coexist in the same space. I explained, "Oh, that's probably Jacob. Jacob Black? He lives here with me." Alice looked disapproving at the mention of another man living with me but showed no recognition of the name. "Were you two there when the treaty was made?"

"No, we hadn't met up with Carlisle and the others yet."

"Oh well Jacob is Ephraim Black's great grandson. He's, uh, he's a werewolf," I said nonchalantly.

Jasper's eyebrows shot up in surprise and Alice shook her head. "Leave it to you. The vampires leave town to keep you safe and all of a sudden, you start hanging out with werewolves." Her nose wrinkled at the word. Then, she crouched down to meet my eyes. "Bella, what happened? We thought we were leaving you safe and human."

I wanted to tell her. I wanted to tell her everything that happened when they left and after. But I couldn't. I knew this was all an act and they didn't really care. My jaw clenched and a single word floated thought my mind. Renesmee. Up until now, she had bee kept a secret from almost the entire world. Our friends in Chile, who helped me through my pregnancy, advised us to stay away from other vampires. If there was enough whispered, word would get back to the Volturi about hybrid's existence and they would try to create and steal the current hybrids for their own coven, especially gifted ones such as my daughter. I glanced from Alice to Jasper. These were people I once trusted with my entire life and they laughed at it. They dropped me like I was nothing. I couldn't trust them with Renesmee just for them to leave and risk word getting out. Plus, I didn't want them to fool Renesmee into caring for them just to break her heart when they got bored. My heart had already been mangled beyond repair but hers was still so full and precious. I couldn't put her through that. "I turned into a vampire and I couldn't exactly live with Charlie. So I stayed here," I tried to simplify.

Alice didn't like the short answer. "Who changed you?" she pressed.

"I don't remember. It's all fuzzy." Lie.

"The wolf?"Jasper asked.

"My best friend. He's just looking out for me." Hurt flashed in Alice's eyes and I tried to keep my anger in check. What did she have to be hurt about? They wanted me to move on, so I did. And that meant having another best friend. If she wanted to spot to herself, she shouldn't have left. I stood up and Alice did too. I cleared my throat unnecessarily and crossed my arms in front of my chest defensively. "So what now? You know I'm alive, you can spare yourself the guilt trip now. Are you going to kick us out?" I asd, trying to regain some of my composure and bring up the wall between me and these people.

"We won't kick you out, Bella. Not even the werewolf." A deep crease had developed in Alice's forehead. She was unhappy. "This was going to be your home too at some point."

"Things change."

Jasper cut in, also looking unhappy and slightly nervous. "We shouldn't have come here to begin with, Alice. We are interfering in things we promised not to. Besides, Carlisle will be wondering where we are."

I felt my stomach drop at the thought of them leaving. I wanted to badly to ask- no, beg- them to stay and never leave again. But it wasn't just about me anymore. I needed to protect my true family and right now that only included Nessie and Jake. So, I kept my mouth shut tight. Even as the other two vampires stared at each other, seemingly communicating with their eyes. Alice sighed in defeat. "I'm sorry. He's right. We shouldn't have come. Feel free to use the house as long as you like. We'll let the others know to stay away."

Everything seemed to almost happen in slow motion then. Jasper and Alice turned to lave right as the door opened and the wind blew in the peculiar scent I knew so well. Jacob and Renesmee came in, soaked head to toe from the rain and laughing hysterically at each other. Alice, Jasper, and I all turned to stone. I could tell both of them were taking in her bronze hair and strong perfect facial features and her chocolate brown eyes that were duplicates of mine. Jake and Nessie stopped in the entry way as soon as they saw the company in the room and the door shut with a final slam.

Everyone was quiet except for Jacob's heavy, angry breathing and the faint, fluttering sound of Renesmee's fast heart. She blushed immediately under the intense gazes of the two Cullens. Jacob stepped protectively in front of her, his entire frame shaking to a blur and dripping water on the carpet. He was barely holding it together. "Jake?" Nessie said, putting a hand on his arm.

"You," he growled at the other two vampires. Jasper stood closer and slightly in front of Alice in response but he remained unreadable.

Alarm bells were sounding off in my head from how close Jake and Nessie were and how close he was to phasing. "Jake, it's okay," I tried to soothe him. "Go outside before you phase."

"I'm not leaving you two," he argued, not taking his eyes away from Jasper and Alice. "Especially not with them."

"They were just leaving. You need to get away from Nessie before you accidentally hurt her."

Jacob's tremors calmed slightly and he looked back at Renesmee. She was watching all of us with wide, scared eyes from underneath her knotted, wet curls. Jacob turned to me and I saw his conflict. The Cullens were the enemy and he wanted o protect us both so bad from them, but he knew I was right. If he was to lose control right now, he might hurt Nessie just like Sam had hurt his Imprint Emily. Sam was haunted by the scars plain on Emily's face and Jacob didn't need to go through that. I let my gaze flick to the door and back and Jake nodded once. He burst past Nessie and ran outside into the forest. We all heard the tearing of clothes as he phased into a wolf. I took Jacob's place with Nessie and held her hand. Nessie asked through the contact, Who are they?

I brushed her hair out of her face and rubbed her hand with my thumb. "This is Alice and Jasper. They're old friends that used to own this house," I introduced. Jasper nodded his head curtly in her direction and Alice waved, much more composed than her husband.

Why was Jacob upset?

"You know how werewolves are about vampires. He was probably just caught by surprise." I squeezed Nessie's hand and gave her what I hoped as a comforting smile. It felt more like a grimace, though. Nessie didn't look too convinced but relaxed a little. I turned back to the two Cullens. "I believe you were leaving?" Please just leave, please just leave, please just leave.

Alice put her hands on her hips, clearly not liking my tone. She said smoothly, "You know, I think we're going to stay for a while. It seems we have a lot to catch up on." She rose an eyebrow like she was challenging me to argue with her. Of course I knew better than to try and change Alice's mind.

"I supposed you'll want your room back then." I sighed and told Nessie, "Go take a shower and get some warm clothes on before you catch a cold. When you're done, would you mind moving my stuff into your room temporarily, sweetie? Just until we can figure out a better arrangement while they're here. I gotta get these two caught up with any changes that happened since they've been gone."

Renesmee nodded, still not talking in front of the new people. They gave her plenty of room to go around them and up the stairs. They waited until we all heard the shower running before rounding on me. Alice started rattling off questions. "Who the hell is that? What happened when we left? What is going on-"

"Not here," I hissed, gesturing them to follow. The three of us went up to the study and I closed the door behind us. I made sure it was locked and turned on the radio on the desk to some random station before turning to them. "She can hear pretty well, but not as well as we can. Between the walls and this, it should keep her from listening."

"Bella, who is she?" Alice repeated, tapping her foot impatiently.

I sighed. There really wasn't any point in hiding it. Renesmee was the perfect combination of both of us and especially if you knew me when I was a human, you would be able to pick up on it. I knew both of them had already figured it out, they just needed the verbal confirmation. "Renesmee is my daughter."

Alice's eyes looked like they could pop out of her head at any second. Jasper's jaw clenched and his golden eyes became solid bricks as he asked, "Bella, you didn't kidnap some poor child, did you? I know you had a future planned out, but that's not a good way to go about it."

Before I could respond to his ludacris accusation, Alice was already talking. "Of course she didn't, Jazz. Did you see her? She has Bella's eyes and his face. How is this possible? I thought you two never...?" She didn't seem to want to finish the sentence, implying it instead.

I bit my lip and looked down. I was sure if I still had blood pumping through my veins, I would be blushing profusely by now. I tugged at my sleeve again and said uncomfortably, "Well, uh, actually we did. On my eighteenth birthday. After the party."

There was a sudden loud crack in the room and I looked up to see Alice with pieces of the wooden desk in her clenched fist. Her eyes had darkened dangerously and she seemed absolutely murderous. Jasper sent calming waves to both of us, trying to keep things under control. Alice relaxed and dropped the wood chips, but her eyes were still a dark amber. "He didn't tell us that," she almost growled. "What happened after we left, Bella? Tell us everything."

I sat down in one of the big arm chairs in front of the desk and gestured for them to sit as well. "There's a lot, you might as well get comfortable." Alice sat in the chair next to me but Jasper remained leaning on the wall. They both were listening closely. With a steadying breath, I began the story. "Well, you know what happened on my birthday."

"I'm sorry about that, by the way. I shouldn't have lost control like that," Jasper apologized.

I frowned, confused. What did he care if he bit me? "It's fine, Jaser. I know first hand now how difficult it is to resist human blood. I should have been more careful."

He gave me a half smile but it seemed to me he still hadn't forgiven himself for the slip. Alice started to say, "Bella-"

I put a hand up to stop her from talking. "What's done is done," I closed the topic. "Anyways, he came over to my house afterwards and we opened presents and then things happened. Then a couple days later, he..." I was unable to say left. I cleared my throat. "I got sick about two weeks later. Charlie and I thought it was the flu. They had found me the night he...yeah, uh, soaking wet in the forest so it wasn't that far fetched of an idea. But I felt off and I noticed I had started gaining a little weight in my belly. I did some research and figured out pretty quickly I was pregnant and it wasn't going t be a normal pregnancy. I shouldn't have been showing at two weeks, but I was.

"I wasn't doing well with the pregnancy. I couldn't keep any food down, everything hurt. She was practically draining the life out of me. So, I kept looking for an answer. I found some legends of half-vampire, half-human children down in South America and figured I might as well check it out. All the legends here seemed to turn out to be true, why not these ones? Charlie only let me go because I lied and told him they were working on an experimental treatment for the 'sickness' I had and I qualified to try it. I found Nahuel and his aunt Huilen there. Nahuel is a hybrid. I told them what happened, what was going on with me now and they told me what Nahuel's mother had to do during her pregnancy. I had to drink blood to feed Renesmee, they treated me when she broke a few of my ribs, and they told me about the labor process. There was no way I was going to survive it. Hybrid babies have vampire teeth and tear their way out of their mothers when their born. That's how Nahuel's mom died. I was different, though. I had time to plan how to survive and raise my daughter. I wanted to survive, but it wasn't going to be as a human.

"Nahuel was the one who changed me. He wanted to atone for killing his own mother. They kept my heart beating long enough that it could pump the venom through my body. They took care of Renesmee for me while I changed and after when I needed to hunt. I drank from animals right away. They thought it was strange at first but they were supportive. I stayed down their with Renesmee for about a year while I learned to control my thirst and she grew. We were really happy." I grinned despite myself, remembering our life in Chile. "Nahuel was a perfect big brother to Renesmee, a mentor she needed in early life. And Huilen was that for me." I miss them so. The grin fell from my face as I continued. "Charlie needed me back here, though. His friend Harry Clearwater had a stroke and died. It was a really rough time for him. I told him I would come back but I had someone with me and that I was a bit different because of the treatments. I told him he was on a need to know basis only now and if he couldn't follow that, we would have to leave for good. He's been pretty good about keeping to that rule so far, all things considered."

Alice looked at me like I was insane. "You were around Charlie after only one year of being a vampire?" she asked. "You controlled yourself around him?"

"Yeah. I adapted to the 'vegetarian' lifestyle pretty easily actually. I'm not sure if it was just the preparation ahead of time but I've always been able to resist human blood. It's not entirely easy but I've done it." I thought I felt a hint of jealousy float into the calm sea Jasper was maintaining, but it was gone before I could be sure. I could understand if he felt that way. Jasper was a late edition to the lifestyle and had a harder time adjusting to it. He was probably jealous that I didn't seem to have the same issues. "I knew we couldn't stay with Charlie, though. I could manage my thirst just fine but it was hard on Renesmee. I was trying to teach her to only drink from animals and she was trying but human blood was what she needed when she was younger. I didn't have enough money to get us our own place though, so we came here."

"What about the wolf?" Alice asked.

I rolled my eyes. ""Sam was about to run us out of Forks and kill whoever changed me but Jacob Imprinted on Renesmee. He moved in not long after that."

They nodded, deep in thought. I waited anxiously for them to say something. After what seemed like years, Alice whispered, "I didn't see any of it. Jacob Black, Renesmee, South America." She dropped her head into her hands and her shoulder slumped forward.

Jasper was by her side in an instant and put a hand on her shoulder. "You weren't looking," he murmured softly.

"Because he told me not to," she sneered when she mentioned him. She looked back up and had an expression of pure anguish on her face. "You're my best friend, I shoul've been looking out for you. No matter what my brother said." She let her face fall back into her hands and Jasper was around her with soothing tones of love. I had to look away from his tender gestured. I had that once. Then he took it away. When Jasper had successfully brought Alice back from her pity party, he backed up a little and I was able to face them again. Alice pondered, "That still doesn't explain why you stopped showing up in my visions. If anything, I should see you more clearly now that you're like me."

I shrugged. "I can't give you a reason why either. I've been here for the past four years. Just me, Nessie, and Jake." More silence as the two of the thought. I added quickly, "I would really prefer if you didn't go around talking about Renesmee and Nahuel. Huilen and I have kept them a secret for a reason. We don't want the Volturi to learn about the existence of hybrids. Who knows what they would do with that information."

They shared a look so brief, I wondered if I imagined it for a second. Alice said gently, "Bella, we should tell Carlisle. You know we would all keep them a secret. None of us are too crazy about the Volturi anyways."

Panic tried to bubble its way up my throat but Jasper made it impossible. "I would prefer if he didn't know. Once he knows, it's only a matter of time before everyone does."

"How much does Renesmee know?" Jasper asked suddenly.

I found it hard to meet his eyes. "About what?"

"Any of it. The Imprint, the Volturi, her parentage?" His golden eyes bore into me but I refused to look at him.

I bit my lip again and tried to evade the real question he was asking. "Jacob doesn't want her to know about the Imprint. He wants things to progress naturally if that's even what Nessie wants. She knows everything about the Volturi that I do. I told her to keep her safe, to make sure she realized the risk we faced if anyone was to find out about anything." I stopped, hoping that would suffice.

It did not. Jasper was persistent. "You haven't told her about us, have you?" I was silent. "You introduced us as old friends, not her aunt and uncle."

Alice followed his line of questioning. "She doesn't know who her father is, does she?"

"She doesn't need to know," I snapped, still refusing to look at either of them. I glared at the bookcase against the wall. "He's not coming back. You guys weren't supposed to come back either. There was no reason to tell her and there's still no reason to."

Alice tried to take my hand but I moved them under my thighs. She said, "Bella, we're not leaving again." I didn't want to hear it. I didn't want to hear the lies and fake promises. "Bella, please, let us stay. Let us, let all of us get to know her and earn your trust again. We only left because he was trying to protect you. He didn't want you to turn into one of us. None of us knew that by leaving, it was going to happen anyways."

"Sometimes you can't change the future," I muttered. "Some things are just destined."

"But we can atone for the unjust things we have to against you," Jasper said. My glare shifted to him. He was looking directly at me and sending wave after wave of love and acceptance and remorse, showing me how he felt. I felt a little pang in my chest. I didn't know Jasper felt this strongly towards me. He always stood off from the rest of the family when I was around.

No. He couldn't feel this way. He was lying again.

Alice continued, "We only left because he wanted to give you a chance at a normal human life. Obviously that didn't work. Damn what he says or thinks, I don't want to leave you again. Our family is incomplete without you, Bella. We're all traveling along, trying to distract ourselves from how empty it is without you. Emmett and Rosalie went off on another honeymoon, Jasper and I keep ourselves busy with college, and Carlile and Esme are just trying to live their live with the hospital and renovating more houses. We hardly see each other anymore and when we do it's too quiet. There's this void that can only be filled by you."

I noticed she didn't mention where he left Did they know and just weren't saying anything for my benefit? Or did he go off by himself too and not tell anyone where to find him? Probably finding another virgin to swindle, I thought dryly.

I wanted to believe they felt sorry and wanted to make it up to me. I wanted to forgive them right then and go back to how things were. But I kept hearing his words before he left echo in my head giving me doubt. My feelings aside, they did have a point. Renesmee deserved to meet them all and get to know the supernatural half of her family. Often I felt bad the only family I could offer her outside this house was Charlie. Now, here they were. But I still felt uneasy. I had managed to get through telling the less emotional part of my story because Alice and Jasper knew the gist of it. Renesmee would want to know who her father was and why he left. I couldn't answer her questions if it came up. I couldn't tell her about him, couldn't tell her who her father never truly loved me and didn't care if I lived or died. I was just simultaneously a convenience and inconvenience to him. I couldn't tell her because I couldn't let her think he was a horrible person. Even with everything he had done to me, everything he had said, I still loved him. I knew he would've been a good father if he knew Renesmee existed. She should know him as that great father, not the guy who used her mom for sex. He just wasn't for me.

I looked at Jasper and Alice's pleading faces. My head was reeling as I took in the emotions emanating from Jasper. He was showing me they loved me, they always loved me. It was confusing. He had told me they were tired of being around me as a human, so why were they feeling this way now? Was it because I was a vampire now? And if it was, did that mean they would stay now? I wanted to push them away, to pack and leave Forks now no matter what the consequences. But I couldn't. Now that they were here, it was like I was an addict who had relapsed and found their favorite release I couldn't give them up a second time, even if they killed me in the process.

"I can't tell you to stay out of your own house," I began. "So if you want to come back, I can't stop you. And I won't keep any of you from getting to know Renesmee. But you can't talk about her father."

"If she knows we're his family, she's going to ask about him," Alice commented.

"Then she can't know you're his family."

Jasper said, "You can't hide it from her forever, Bella."

"I will tell her when I'm ready to talk about it," I told him. Both of them looked like they wanted to argue some more, but I cut them off. "She's my daughter and those are my rules. Either you all agree to the boundary or the three of us will disappear."

Neither of them looked happy but agreed. I left them in the office just as Alice was pulling out her phone to call Carlisle. I leaned against the door once it closed and looked up at the ceiling. What am I doing? The urge to fall apart was beginning to close in so I sought out Nessie. Her presence was so soothing to me, it would keep the demons inside at bay. Renesmee was in her room and trying to look busy when I walked in. Her school work was laying all over the bed but not a single thing had been written down. She jumped guiltily when she saw me and blushed. I leaned against the door frame, an amused smile playing on my lips. "You know, if you're going to try and be sneaky about eavesdropping, you could at least make it more convincing," I told her.

Her chin tilted up in defiance. "Well, if you know I'm going to eavesdrop, you could at least leave the door open next time so I can hear." she shut her book and threw herself back onto her pillows.

I chuckled. I went over and moved her school things onto the floor, flopping down on the bed next to her. We both stared up at the ceiling. I asked, "Any word from Jake?"

She shook her head. "He's still gone. It'll probably be a while before he calms down enough to come back." I nodded once. Nessie asked, "So, your friends are staying for a while?"

"Yeah. They called the other members of their coven too, so we'll have a full house." I wondered briefly where she would sleep. Carlisle and Esme would probably want their room back and Jacob was staying in Emmett and Rosalie's. Could we all pile in the guest room together? It's not like I need sleep, just closet space. Jacob and Nessie would have to share the bed. I didn't feel too upset about the idea. With a house full of vampires with super hearing, it's not like they would be up to anything. Besides, other than the occasional blush, Nessie never did or said anything to show that she felt more than friendship towards Jake. It would keep them in line

"Jake knew them too." She didn't phrase it like it was a question, she stated it as a fact. "He doesn't like them though."

I remembered Jacob's accusatory tone when he addressed Alice and Jasper. Yeah, there was no way of getting around that. "He does know them and no, he doesn't like them too much. He doesn't like vampires, you know this."

"He likes you."

"Most days," I snorted.

"If they're your friends, why doesn't he like them then?" she asked. I couldn't come up with a good answer so I just stayed silent. I felt Nessie sit up and look down at me, not willing to let it go. "He really just doesn't like vampires that eat humans, Mom. Their eyes looked just like yours, not all red and scary. So they don't eat humans. so Jake shouldn't have a problem with them. But he does and I want to know why. Are they bad people? Did they do something? You said they used own this house? Why did they leave? Did they let us stay here?"

"Nessie, I..." I sighed and sat up. She already had a million and one questions and she hadn't even spent time with Alice and Jasper yet. I was just setting us up for problems. "It's complicated, Nessie. A lot happened between all of us in the past and they want to try and make it right." Not a total lie.

Renesmee didn't look satisfied with my half baked answers but she didn't push anymore. Instead, she put her hand on my cheek and asked one more question. Are you okay?

Was I okay? I felt like my whole world had just imploded in less than an house Most of the Cullens were coming back, they knew about Renesmee, and now were trying desperately trying to make themselves a part of our lives. It was almost everything I had wished for since the day they left and yet, I felt so...incomplete. I knew it was because there was one person missing from this reunion and it was the person who would make me feel whole again. Even with everyone else coming back, Renesmee would have no idea of who these people were. She would get to know them, become friends with them, but she wouldn't really understand the importance of their relationship. That left me feeling hollow. It was a necessary precaution for now but that didn't make it any easier to do. Nessie continued to look at me with her innocent, brown eyes. A little v appeared between her eyebrows in her worry. Was I okay? Not really. Would I try to be okay for her? Always. I put my hand over hers and smiled. "I'm okay, sweetie. It was all just very unexpected."

She didn't look like she believed me at all, but didn't pry. Instead, she offered as much support as she could through her thoughts. I relished in the happiness her mind brough. She had never truly known heartbreak, rejection. Everyone she met loved her immediately and fought tooth and nail to keep her in their lives. She hadn't know death and had only touched the surface of sadness. She truly was my angel. Though she tried to keep it pushed away, a thought came barreling through our moment of peace.

Jacob.

She was extremely worried about him. It wasn't often he lost control like that and it had really shaken Renesmee. I took her hand off my face and just held it. "Why don't you try calling Billy or Emily. See if they've seen him yet," I suggested. She squeezed my hand and nodded, taking out her phone. I left the room to give her some privacy and went to seek solace in a book.

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