Chapter 15

The Love of My Life… Well Existence

(Charlie)

After Angela left the Cullens house an unpleasant odor took over my senses again. There it was again; that horrible wet dog smell which meant that Jacob was coming, but mixed with it was something that was absolutely perfect. I closed my eyes and breathed in deeply through my nose to allow it to fill me. I couldn't describe it. It smelled close to human, but at the same time didn't. Mixed with the human fragrance was a scent that was clearly vampiric; honeysuckle and lilac among others. In addition I heard two thrumming hearts, one racing much faster than the other.

"Come on dad," Bella said softly to me as she pulled me inside. "Your granddaughter wants to meet you."

"Isn't it too soon?" I asked as Edward and most of the rest of the family came downstairs as well.

"We'll try it with Jacob first." Edward suggested as I kept my eyes closed to allow the scent of this new creature to wash over me. I didn't feel thirsty and this scent was so perfectly balanced that I would never want it in that way. Edward placed his hand on my right shoulder. I could only assume that he was impressed with how I was handling myself. "You're doing so well with all of this Charlie," Edward added as I sat in the large couch. "I have no doubt that you'll be okay."

I nodded smiling. My family had told me being a newborn would be hard, and I had been so on guard against losing control that I still can't believe that I've been this good. In reality, it had been a little hard but nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be. "Renesmee?" I asked with an even larger smile on my face.

Bella's answering smile was even more wonderful than I had ever seen before. I could swear that I saw a rainbow that had an eight color reflected that I couldn't describe reflected on her teeth. She nodded at me and said at a whisper, "Renesmee, but first there's someone else who'd like to talk to you."

I expected it to be Jacob, but it wasn't him. It was a female vampire. What would you call that, a vampiress? Eh who cares, I thought, but she was absolutely stunning. An absolute beauty that no one could compare to, not even Rosalie. She was about 5'6", her hair was gorgeous strawberry blonde, and it seemed that her scent was emanating from her hair. She smelled like fresh cut strawberries. I felt something in her drawing me closer to her, almost like I was caught in her gravity; I couldn't look away. It was as if I was looking into my destiny; a destiny that I never knew existed. We stopped with barely a foot in between us and just were lost staring into each other's eyes. I can't explain why what happened next did. I just couldn't stop myself. I grabbed her around her waist, leaned her over and our lips met in a kiss that showed exactly how much we both longed for each other. I couldn't stop myself when our kiss started, and even weirder, I didn't know how to stop when our lips met. We both fought for control of it, with both of us sinking even deeper into our kiss. I don't even know how long our lips were intertwined before finally Edward cleared his throat.

If I could have still blushed, I would have. I assaulted her; there is nothing else to call it. I wanted to run away in shame, taking two long strides before I realized that she was still next to me. But I still kept running wanting nothing more than to get away from her. Apparently she wanted nothing more than me either and I couldn't believe it. We both stopped in unison when we hit the edge of the forest and this time it was her who put her lips onto mine and kissed me as forcefully as I had her. Her lips were hard and firm showing nothing but passion and love, well maybe more lust than love, but I didn't care. I was hooked; she was my brand of heroin and I wanted her… forever.

"Come on," she whispered when we separated with large smiles on both of our faces, "Nessie's been waiting to see the new you for two days."

"Promise me that you won't let me do something stupid," I said with a chuckle as I grabbed her left hand. Simply touching her sent electricity through me, and I couldn't help but think about one of the songs I liked. I sang out softly, "You shouldn't kiss me like this unless you mean it like that. And if you do, baby kiss me again." My new singing voice was a mid tenor, and the words flowed like I had never heard before, not even in a fully produced album. Then Tanya did exactly what I wanted her to do; we kissed longer and deeper than before.

Pulling away one more time, she led me by the hand back inside. By now Jacob was sitting on the couch next to Renesmee and I couldn't stop from seeing her. She was flawless, even better than Ness had looked to my human eyes. They couldn't do her justice. Her skin, just as pale as Bells's used to be with a dim lighting to it in the sunlight. Her eyes were mine; or I should say the eyes Bella and I used to have. She had my curls and her father's hair color. Just perfect. Edward smiled at me, then turned to Jacob.

"Freaky Charlie," Jacob laughed as he stood and walked closer to me. I shrugged. "But before I can let you get even closer to her, I wanna see how you handle me."

My glance turned between Jacob, Bella, and Edward, the latter of which simply nodded. I couldn't be sure if it was to me or Jacob, but either way Jacob walked slowly to me. I felt myself slip into a defensive crouch and a hiss came from between my teeth which shocked me even more. This was wrong, so wrong. Here I am growling at a kid I've known, well since he was born. Then a wave of calm hit me, and my posture slumped.

Jacob put his hands up palms out and kept coming closer. "Get a good whiff leach," he said with a laugh. Now it was Bella growling at him, much more terrifying than I had just done to him.

I felt back in control of myself and did as he said. I closed my eyes and sniffed, slowly at first but then growing deeper wrinkling my nose at the unpleasant scent. Yep, definitely wet dog. "Ugh, Jacob you really need a bath." The room erupted in laughter.

"Speak for yourself, bloodsucker." That was it. I had no desire to go after Jacob. Jacob nodded at Ness and she rose quickly and ran to my arms. Unlike when Jacob did it a minute ago, I didn't feel threatened. I breathed in deeply the scent of my granddaughter. Perfectly balanced and I had absolutely no issue with her despite hearing her heart and feeling her warmth.

"I love you grandpa," she said as she put her palm to my cheek. Entering my head was her and I out hunting again and then something else. Her view of her biting me so she'd have me around forever. "That's how much I love you." She gave me a kiss on the cheek immediately after pulling her hand away and I started gently stroking her hair.

I smiled widely, laughing, "You already know how much I love you."

"No," she said with a smile. "How much?"

I grinned. She knew exactly how much I did. "So much that I never want to lose you, and now I don't have to… ever." Ness buried her head into my side as we sat down on the couch with Bella next to Ness, Edward behind his girls, and my new best woman behind me. This was going to be easy and I had some serious help. For the first time, I knew what it was like to have a large family that I couldn't live without and thanks to them, I wouldn't have to. Forever was going to be great.

(Jacob)

Once I was sure that Charlie wouldn't hurt Ness, I felt it might be a good idea to let him get some alone time with his family. Edward and Bells would be there to stop him from doing anything stupid, and there was something about Charlie that made me think that he was gonna be as good with this new life as Bella was. I started walking out, but then turned to Ness. "I'll see ya tomorrow," I whispered smiling.

"We still going to the beach?" she asked with a small grin.

Bella looked pissed. I had asked Edward about it and reluctantly he said okay. His consent almost changed when Alice bought Ness the bathing suit she wanted. I still hadn't seen it, but I could only assume that it was something that he didn't approve of. I thought I knew what that meant. No matter how long Edward'd been, what do you call it… alive? I guess that's best. Yeah, no matter how long he'd been alive, his morals and values never would escape the nineteen-teens.
Edward finally, after and awkward minute, nodded his eyes only. "It'll be okay, love," he said to Bella, wrapping his right arm around her waist.

"This isn't like… a date is it?" Bella wasn't ready for this, of that I knew. "She's still too young for that."

"Mom," Ness moaned, stretching the word in protest.

I laughed. My sisters were just like that when they had their first dates, but it was my dad who was that way. Edward had to know my intentions were still seeing her as my best friend. I had told Bella all of this a few years ago after telling her that Quil had imprinted with a two year old Claire. She was seven now, and still Quil went from being her best friend to big brother. Absolutely nothing romantic between them... yet. I saw the way he looked at her every time we were both wolves, and I found it easier to do the same with Nessie.

Bella must have started to relent as she looked right at Alice. "Alice," there must had been some unspoken questions between the two of them, because no sooner had she said that did Alice answer her.

One word only was Alice's reply. "Perfect."

Bella sighed almost dejected. "Alright," she answered giving in but then turned on me. She blurred to me, her nose less than four inches from mine, staring right into my eyes like a predator staring into the eyes of its prey. "But if you do anything inappropriate, I'm gonna bite you." Then she snapped her teeth closed even closer to my nose. The snap of her teeth sounded more like a bear trap than a mouth.

I didn't expect what happened next; Edward started laughing. He flittered to Bella and pulled her away from me.

"Overreact much?" I quipped when Edward had her restrained a little. By now the mood in the room had relaxed and I couldn't be sure if it was natural or Jasper had something to do with it. There was a surrounding chorus of laughter that ranged from Emmett's huge guffaws to the peeling bells from Alice and Esme, to faint chuckles from Jasper.

Bella shook her head, and I thought that it might be a good idea to just leave. "Tomorrow," I whispered to Ness and I kissed my index finger and poked her on the tip of her nose. This was the way the two of us kissed to not piss off Bella. Edward caught me one time giving her a peck on the cheek, and growled a little, but he let it go after we didn't do anything other than that. Bella on the other hand, nearly lunged at me until Ness got between us. I was hers as surely as Ness was mine.

I walked outside and it had started to drizzle again. Crap, I had only brought my motorcycle. Oh well, might as well stretch out all four of my legs. I ran into the garage and started undressing. Esme had bought an old 'armoire' that she refinished for me. She nearly growled at me when I called it a dresser the first time I saw it. I neatly put my clothes in the drawers knowing that by the next time I came back someone would run them through the wash. I went behind the garage and phased but no sooner had I gone wolf that I heard a voice in my head that I hated.

"Jake," the girl's voice plead. "Jake is that you?"

I groaned when I knew who it was. "What do you want Leah?" I answered in my thoughts. I hated when I had to listen to her thoughts, but then I realized what she wanted.

"I need your help Jake. I found someone."

"Arg," I groaned again. Being an alpha was a pain, but I could turn down my beta's pleas for help. Then I listened to her thoughts again and couldn't believe what had happened. "Are you sure?"

"I'm standing right next to him. He can't phase back and I don't even have a clue how to help him."

"Hey newbie," I chuckled but couldn't hear anything from him. This wasn't good. "Can you talk to him?"

"Yeah I think so, but I can't answer really. I really gotta concentrate because all he can talk in is wolf."

"I'll talk to the guys and Sam and get someone there to help you. Where are you anyway?"

"Just outside of Spokane… I think. I met this guy at WSU and we kind of hit it off, then when he left I felt this new wolf I didn't know. We've been running north ever since and I'm trying to keep him outta trouble."

I was entering La Push and howled looking for Sam. No response; he wasn't wolf. That's when I remembered that Emily was due any day. Maybe she had gone into labor. If that was the case, he wouldn't answer, but still his beta should be looking out for him. I decided my best bet was to go home and dress and look for him human. I was surprised when I got home and saw his gamma using the terminology that Bella invented was there waiting for me. I invited Collin in and I brought two cans of soda from the fridge and we sat on the couch. "What's up?" He asked.

"Where's Sam?"

"At the hospital. Something went wrong, and Em's in a bad way."

His words hit me like a cement truck. Despite the friendly rivalry we had, I never wanted to see Sam hurt like he would be if he lost Emily. I decided to ask him, since as the highest ranking member of the pack available, he had some pull. "I need some help… err, Leah does actually."

Collin rolled his eyes. He didn't really like Leah because of what she did to his alpha, making him feel the pain of dumping her every day when there was only one pack. "It's not like that. She found a new wolf and doesn't know how to help him phase back. And apparently he can only hear Leah."

"I'll go," he said completely willing. "Where is she?"

"Spokane. She was looking at colleges and I guess stumbled on him."

"I'll leave tonight, but gimme her cell or something. And tell her to listen for my howl. Let me know where she goes too."

"I'd take your passport just in case they keep going north and end up in Canada."

"Good call," Collin said patting me on the back. "I'll go pack a bag and swing by and see Sam to let him know what's up." Then a thought crossed Colin's head and I kinda had the same idea.

"I don't know it Carlisle'd ever done OB/GYN," I said, "but you're right. I'll give them a call and see if he can come." I knew he would.

AN: So who do you think the new wolf is? Thanks for R/R.