Six

Before Jacob knew it, the sun was rising. It had been a cold misty night, but he didn't mind the weather. His temperature always ran hot—too hot to handle, he might joke, and most importantly any discomfort was manageable as long as it meant he could be close to Renesmee.

He had paced outside her window all night. Watching as Carlisle took more blood from her limp arm and retreated back to the Cullen house for further tests. After that he tried to keep his head as clear as possible. Edward couldn't help but read his thoughts and more than once he had been embarrassed by the direction that they strayed.

He had hoped Ness would wake up. He wanted to talk to her. Hear her laugh. He loved the parts of the evening when he would come over and she would tell him about her day. Before, it was how much she wanted to go to school. What she hoped to learn and the friends and situations she'd find herself in. Now that Bella and Edward finally relented and let her go, her chatter was about what she was learning—she liked math (which he felt came from Edward's genes) and hated English (which was the opposite of Bella). She liked how the day was divided into blocks with different subjects. In her years of home schooling with the Cullen's she often did what she wanted to without structure.

Jacob heard Edward's voice from the other side of the window glass. "Bella will be back soon." He looked up, made eye-contact with the vampire. "You should go get some rest. And maybe… put a shirt on."

Jacob smirked, dismissing Edward's comment. A lot of people—mostly other men, vampires included, thought he liked wandering around shirtless for vanity, but really it was just necessity. He felt so hot sometimes that the thought of a shirt made him feel claustrophobic. His skin burned. He couldn't explain it other than to say that when you felt like you were on fire, you'd do anything to feel relief.

"Sure," Jacob finally interjected to fill the silence. "Bella will be back soon. Doesn't mean I'm going to leave Ness."

Edward reasoned, "You will eventually have to sleep. Supernatural or not, that is a faculty you still have to take care of."

Jacob scoffed. "We'll see."

He heard the ruffle of footsteps in the woods before he saw the figure approached. Jacob knew who it was. Blondie would sneak up on him, and the fairy-princess one was off with Bella. He knew neither of the boys, Hulk and Whinny, would come around now. Carlisle was quick, and this figure was slow. Too slow for a vampire; a deliberate walk, steady and loud enough to not startle him.

"Esme," Jacob breathed as she burst forth from the darkness of the tree line. The sun was rising behind her. Her smile was warm and sympathetic as it always was.

"No news from Carlisle," she told him quick, knowing it would be the first thought on his mind. "He's working on the latest blood sample. I wanted to come down and see her, and—"

Jacob interjected. "She's still asleep."

Esme smiled, her usual calmness and candor put him at ease. "I know." She had come close enough to stand beside him, but not so close as to make him feel uncomfortable. "I've missed seeing Seth and Leah, are they well?"

"Yeah," Jacob cracked a smile, despite himself. "Leah's still on the Rez, she's been teaching pre-school."

Esme startled, "Teaching?"

He grinned. "Yeah, I know. She kind of loves it. She was dating this townie guy, some old friend of Bella's, a guy named Mike Newton," Jacob rolled his eyes. "She kicked him to curb a while ago, I think. She's more of a lone wolf, though, you know what I mean?"

Esme laughed. "I do. I understand."

"And Seth, well," Jacob went on, "He's Seth. Still little Seth even though he's about to graduate from high school."

"Really?"

Jacob's smile widened. "Yeah, he got a scholarship to The University of Washington."

"That's wonderful!"

"Yeah, it is. Harry would be really proud of him. Of both of them."

Esme's face softened. "I'm sure it would. Sue must be thrilled."

"Oh yeah. She had Charlie bought out the team store in Port Angeles. Everything is Purple and Gold and Huskies this and Huskies that. I think Charlie might even be tempted to buy a Huskie."

"Ness always said she wanted to go to the University of Washington."

"I know." Jacob's voice grew with conviction. "She will."

"Of course, she will. Carlisle will figure out what's going on with her. I don't doubt that for a second."

The conversation lulled. "I brought you this," Esme said to fill the silence. She handed Jacob an aluminum-wrapped package. It was warm when Jacob took it. Peeling back the foil he saw that it was a steaming egg sandwich.

Jacob couldn't help but laugh as the smell hit him and his stomach growled. "Thanks, Esme." He took a quick bite and moaned from relief. "This reminds me of our patrol days when the pack was at war, and then the whole Vulturi mess."

"Those were dark days, but we always felt safer with you, and Leah, and Seth here."

Bella and Alice burst through the trees, breaking up their conversation. Jacob had taken another large bite of sandwich and when Bella was close enough, he yelled. "No change. She's still asleep."

Bella looked to Esme. "Anything from Carlisle?"

Esme reached out to Bella and embraced her fiercely. "He's back at the house with the second blood sample. He'll come back down as soon as he knows anything."

Bella's shoulders fell. "I'm going to go see her." She reached back for Alice. Saying a silent thank you to her sister before disappearing back into the cottage.

Alice wrinkled her nose from the dog smell she claimed always lingered when Jacob was nearby. Jacob just rolled his eyes.

"Did you have a good hunt?" Esme asked Alice.

Jacob didn't pay much attention to the blood talk—anything beyond the occasional rare stake was too much information for him. Instead he let his body and his eyes drift back to the window where he could catch a good glimpse of Renesmee.

She was still asleep, or so he could tell. Edward was sitting beside her bed, one arm held out to Bella while the other was stroking Ness' forehead.

Jacob pulled his phone from his pocket and flipped the screen up. Bella's cell was his second speed dial. He was saving the first one for Ness when she got her first phone.

Alice didn't need to see what he was doing. "She's still sleeping, Jacob. Edward and Bella will want to be alone with her."

Normally Jacob wouldn't give her the time of day but her manic-pixie-vampire-girl eyes unnerved him. "I want to hear for myself."

Alice shrugged. "Suite yourself, but she won't be up for hours."

Bella answered the phone. He could hear agitation and annoyance in her voice. "What is it, Jacob?"

"Is she awake?" He knew the answer. Although he would never admit it, he knew Alice was right.

Bella sighed. "No, Jake. She's still sleeping."

"What's her temperature?"

"Edward just took it, it's still 102°."

"Then she' getting better. It was 104° earlier. That's what you said."

"I don't know, Jake."

Jacob knew he was grasping at any loose ends that he could find. He knew how desperate his voice sounded, but he couldn't conceive of a world where Ness wasn't awake and alright and safe.

"Hey, Esme?" He turned back to the vampire, who seemed startled momentarily by his address to her. "Do you know how much longer Carlisle might be with the tests?"

Esme reached out for him, placed her hand comfortingly on his arm. "I don't know how long it will take, I'm sorry." She turned to Alice, "Do you see anything?"

Alice's expression changed from calm to worried, which made the pit of Jacob's stomach drop. "I don't know. I haven't seen anything."

Jacob knew it was a lie. But part of him wanted to believe it as truth.

"We just have to wait," Esme told him. "I'm sure we'll know more soon."