"You can come home whenever you want- I'll come right back as soon as you need me."
Renee Dwyer (Previously Swan. Née Higginbothom) born 1968 was born to Marie Higginbotham and her husband.
She is Phil Dwyer's Wife.
Renee is the ex-Wife of Charlie Swan.
She is the mother of Bella Cullen.
Renee is the mother-in-law of Edward Cullen.
She is the grandmother of Renesmee Cullen.
Renee is portrayed by Sarah Clarke in the movie adaptations.
Biography
Early Life
Renee was born in Downey, California.
Her parents divorced when she was still a child and she never had much contact with her father.
Her mother, Marie was a difficult and bitter woman, but also hardworking and loyal.
Renee had a very different personality; Fun-loving, creative, and artistic, but flighty and inconsistent.
She did not do well in school, despite the fact that she tested well.
During her teenage years, she was unable to hold onto a job for long, though she always interviewed very well.
The first year after High School, Renee, who could no longer take living with her pessimistic mother, moved in with a friend who had space available in her small apartment, working several temporary jobs to pay for it.
The next Summer, one of her girlfriend decided to take a month off and travel the length of the Pacific coast, camping along the way. This was exactly the kind of adventure that she loved. She went on the trip with a few other girls, having no idea where she would live when she got back if her roommate rented the space to someone else.
On First Beach, Renee met Charlie Swan. She was instantly attracted to him because of his difference from her ex-boyfriends; Serious and responsible, yet funny and kind.
They spent a few days together before she departed but not before promising Charlie that she would visit on her way back.
Renee missed Charlie for the rest of the tip and when she returned to Forks, she was easily convinced to stay for a little while longer.
Renee loved being in love and she loved feeling like she was living an adventure.
When Charlie proposed, getting married sounded like the perfect cap to the whirlwind romance. They were married by a justice of the peace, with only Charlie's parent and three best friends in attendance.
Renee sent her mother a picture of the Wedding but she didn't respond.
At first, Renee enjoyed the novelty of being married.
Charlie was easier to live with than her mother and his passionate adoration of her was quite pleasant.
She had a great deal of fun decorating their little house and loved his quiet and kind parents.
While living in Forks, she worked as a waitress, where she loved meeting new people.
Renee was excited when she found out that she was pregnant and learned to knit and decorate the nursery.
She wrote to her mother again and this time, Marie sent a gift; Her own mother's handmade quilt. Renee was touched.
However, after a few months, everything started to get stale. The constant covering of clouds and rain depressed her and Charlie's busy time at work and caring for his parents left her unhappy and trapped. Though she loved Charlie, there was no adventure left in their now staid relationship.
Renee gave birth to Bella Cullen on September 13, 1987.
After her daughter was born, she became more responsible in her ways around the house. Her unhappy time did not brighten up, though.
She hated the thought of letting Bella grow up in the gloomy town and begged Charlie to leave with her, though she knew that was not a kind thing to ask.
Finally, she decided to leave on her own and get her life in order for Bella's sake.
She realized that she had made some life-altering decisions without much thought and she wanted to start over and procced more carefully.
They divorced in March 1988.
She moved back in with her mother, who was still difficult, but who doted on Bella.
She enrolled in school and got her elementary education degree- Spending time with Bella had made her realize that she was good with children and enjoyed them.
Once she had her gree and a job, she moved to Riverside and found a job in Kindergarten.
Bella grounded Renee, who found ways to be satisfied with small changes in her hobbies and recreational activities.
She made many close friends among the other teachers.
Renee's life was still chaotic, however, as she always got herself into heavy situations.
As Bella grew, she began to assume many of the adult responsibilities in the home, simply because she was better suited to them than Renee was. When she took over the bookkeeping at age 10, their lives became much easier.
They lived in Riverside until Bella was 6 years old.
Bella and Renee then moved to Phoenix, Arizona where they remained for 5 years.
After Renee's mother passed away, she got a job there.
Though she missed Charlie, she did her best to keep herself from becoming entangled with other men romantically, worried about the impact such a relationship would have on Bella.
When Bella was in her teens, she realized that her mother was lonely and encouraged her to date.
Twilight
After a few failed relationships, Renee met a minor league Baseball player named Phil Dwyer.
They married before the beginning of Twilight, when Bella was 17.
Because Bella was attending school in Phoenix, Renee couldn't spend very much time with Phil, who traveled around because of his job and thus she was unhappy.
Bella decided to live with her father, Charlie Swan in Forks, so Renee and Phil could have more time together.
The first time Renee meets Edward is in Twilight, after Bella was attacked by James, in the hospital.
Edward tells her that Bella fell down two flights of stairs and went through a window, which results in her bad injury.
She later tries to convince Bella to move to Jacksonville with her and Phil, only to have Bella refuse and decide to stay in Forks with Edward and Charlie.
New Moon
Renee remains absent in New Moon, but has been mentioned by Charlie.
According to him, Renee visited Forks shortly after Edward and his family left when Bella became catatonic.
She intended to move Bella to Jacksonville to help her move on, but she snapped immediately in front of them. She convinced them to let her stay, but Renee remained increasingly worried about her daughter's condition until Jacob made her happy again.
Edward's retrun made her daughter completely normal again and despite this troublesome period, Renee shows nothing but support to Bella and Edward's rekindled relationship.
Eclipse
In Eclipse, while Phil is busy with work, Bella and Edward spend a weekend to visit Renee in Jacksonville.
Her focus was sharpened because of Phil's absence.
She told Bella she noticed that Edward was very intense and protective around her and she felt like she was missing out on something. But Bella quickly reminds her that she has been reading too many mystery and sci-fi novels and tells her to stick to romance.
In the film adaptation of Eclipse, she gives Bella a quilt made of her personal T-shirts to keep her warm in Alaska after hearing that she is attending College there. She also mentions that Colleges are a lot sunnier in Florida, as she tries to get Bella to change her mind.
Breaking Dawn
In Breaking Dawn, Bella tells Renee about her Engagement with Edward and despite her reluctance against teen Marriage, she accepts her daughter's decision wholeheartedly, much to everyone's surprise and Charlie's dismay.
She is present while making Wedding plans with Esme and during her daughter's Wedding.
She and Charlie give Bella an antique hair comb containing sapphires for something old and something blue.
Renee becomes a grandmother during Bella and Edward's honeymoon, but she does not learn of the existence of her granddaughter, Renesmee nor does she know that Bella has a became a vampire afterward due to their worries about her being unable to handle the changes.
Charlie has agreed to keep her in the dark in order to keep all of them safe.
She is only told that her daughter got sick following the Wedding and is slowly recovering.
Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined
In an alternate story of Twilight, almost all characters have switched gender and names, with Renee being one of few exceptions.
In this story, she gave birth to a son instead of a daughter and named him Beau in honor of her deceased father.
Much like with Bella, Renee was very close to Beau, who also took on the responsibilities around the house.
When the sadistic Vampire, Joss decides to hunt her son for sports, she lures him to the ballet stuido where Renee used to take lessons (As opposed to it being Bella's old ballet studio.)
After becoming a Vampire, Beau is forced to fake his death for his family's protection.
While at Beau's funeral, Renee appears completely heartbroken and distraught.
Archie brings her a chair before she can have a chance to fall.
She then departs with Phil.
Physical Appearance
Renee and Bella look alike in their features.
She has medium length brown hair. Innocent, childish blue eyes. And a round face full of laugh lines.
Her height is around 5'4.
In Life and Death, she is said to have a pointy chin and full lips.
She is also sometimes mistaken to be Beau's Sister.
Personality and Traits
Renee is described by Bella as very eccentric, an experimental chef, forgetful, and very perceptive in a childish way.
She tends to shift her hobbies and interests from one to another, such as yoga, but never sticks with any of them for very long.
Renee has very negative views of early Marriages, since she married Charlie right out of High School.
This is something Bella feared when she got engaged to Edward.
Renee, however, told her that those views of Marriage only apply to herself.
Edward says that her thoughts are childish but she sses the world very clearly.
At one point in the Twilight film, Renee describes herself as someone who "repels technology" as she is always misplacing her phone charger.
According to Bella, she is more like the mother and Renee the child.
In the films, she is also shown to be good at sewing, having presented Bella with a quilt out of her trip T-shirts in Eclipse for her Graduation present.
Similarly to her ex-husband and daughter, Renee is a gifted human, possessing what can only be described as a "thought projection" ability. It was first discovered by Edward Cullen, described in Midnight Sun as giving Renee a mental voice "So clear and strong that for a second he thought someone had come into the room without him noticing."
Renee's thoughts, constantly being broadcasted are stated to have an effect on people around her, drawing them to her and her intentions, making them anxious to help or assist in some way.
By Edward's own suspicion, if Renee was to become a Vampire, this ability may possibly elove into one which projects her thoughts audibly and constantly.
Relationships
Renee is the daughter of Marie Higginbotham.
She is the mother of Bella Cullen.
Renee is the ex-Wife of Charlie Swan.
She is the Wife of Phil Dwyer.
Renee is the mother-in-law of Edward Cullen.
She is the maternal grandmother of Renesmee Cullen.
Charlie Swan
"Well, Charlie, don't you look dashing!"
Charlie Swan is Renee's ex-husband.
They first met while she was passing through Forks. Their brief encounter affected each other greatly and by the time she returned, they married quickly. Though she was happy for awhile, Forks began to become depressing due to the lack of sunlight.
Renee had Bella with him and shortly thereafter realized that she had rushed into Marriage. She decided to divorce him, although he remained somewhat in love with her, and so did she.
After they divorced, she kept in touch with him for her daughter's sake.
Phil Dwyer
Renee's second husband, Phil Dwyer is a minor league Baseball player.
They fell in love around 2004 and married in September.
They had planned on marrying on a beach in Mexico, but it didn't go that way.
Unlike her first Marriage, theirs seems fairly successful due to their similar likings of adventure.
Bella Cullen
"Mom?"
"Yeah, honey?"
"I miss you."
"Oh, honey. I miss you too."
Bella Cullen is Renee's daughter
She took Bella away from Forks when she was still a baby.
They are each other's best friends and Bella has always loved her.
She'd always put her relationships with men over Bella, but she also wanted her to be independent.
After Renee married Phil, Bella realizes that she feels unhappy when he travels around for his job and decides to move back to Forks to live with her father for a while.
After Renee and Phil permanently relocate to Jacksonville, Florida, she tries to convince her daughter to move with them, but Bella decides to live in Forks to stay with her new boyfriend, Edward Cullen.
She wholeheartedly supports her daughter's decision to marry Edward in Breaking Dawn, even though she has deeply negative views on teen Marriages and adapts to her new in-law family very quickly.
They grew gradually distant after Bella became a Vampire but stayed in touch with each other.
As far as she knows, Bella is recovering from a rare disease that she picked up while on her honeymoon with Edward.
She is never told that Bella has become a Vampire nor is she aware of the existence of her new granddaughter, Renesmee Cullen.
Edward Cullen
"I think that boy is in love with you."
Edward Cullen is Renee's son-in-law once he marries Bella in Breaking Dawn.
Unlike Charlie, Renee likes him wholeheartedly from the very beginning because he makes her daughter happy.
Even after his departure that rendered her daughter majorly depressed and in pain, she accepted him with open arms when he returned to their lives.
When Bella calls Renee to tell her about her Engagement to Edward, Renee fully supports their decision and even travels to Forks to meet Edward's family and help arrange Wedding plans with Esme.
She is unaware that her son-in-law and his family are Vampires and that Bella has become one as well and that she has mothered a half human half Vampire granddaughter named Renesmee.
Marie Higginbotham
Marie Higginbotham was Renee Dwyer's mother and has been deceased six years prior to the beginning of New Moon when Bella was twelve.
Renee and Marie weren't very close due to their different personalities and perspectives on things.
When she noticed her Marriage to Charlie, Marie never responded to her invitation.
But sent her a blanket when she gave birth to Bella.
They lived together for a while after Renee moved away from Forks with Bella and divorced Charlie.
She has a minor but important role in New Moon because Marie's appearance plays a part in Bella's choice to become a Vampire.
Renesmee Cullen
"I don't know how much we should tell Renee about this."
Renesmee Cullen is Renee's granddaughter.
Since Renesmee is growing at an immensely accelerated rate, Bella and Charlie have agreed to keep her mother in the dark about her granddaughter's existence, knowing that the supernatural world wasn't for everyone to comprehend.
However, Bella is hopeful that she would be able to introduce her daughter to Renee someday in the future.
Renee is one half of Renesmee's namesake. The other being Esme Cullen.
Beau Swan
"I couldn't drive to Florida and hug my Mom and let her know that I wasn't dead. I couldn't even call her and explain the confusing message I'd left on her answering machine."
Beau Swan is Renee's son in the gender-swapped novel, Life and Death: Twilight Reimagined, where she has a son instead of a daughter.
She took Beau away from Forks at infancy and raised him in California, then Arizona.
Like her relationship with Bella, they are very close, though Beau always felt out of sync with her.
After Renee married Phil, Beau moves back to Forks to live with his father to give Renee the opportunity to travel with Phil.
When Beau unexpectedly became a Vampire, he had no choice but to fake his death to do so to keep his family safe.
Renee doesn't take the news well and grives at her son's funeral.
Though Beau is agonized over causing her pain, he knows that she will have Phil to take care of her.
Film Portrayal
Renee is portrayed by Sarah Clarke in Twilight, Eclipse, and Breaking Dawn Part 1.