Chapter 5: Home

Nessie's POV

Edward looked like he was about to argue back but then he decided against it. Instead he left the room without another word.

I laid back down in bed and tried to fall asleep. But it didn't work. I was much too angry. So instead I just laid there thinking. I thought about my mom and a horrifying thought suddenly occurred to me. What if she already died? What if she passed away while EJ and I were here on our little adventure?

No. I couldn't think like that. I tried to remember happier times. When my mom and dad and sister were happy, healthy, and alive.

We used to go up to Forks all the time to visit my grandfather all the time. Those visits were some of my happiest memories. I loved spending time with grandpa Charlie. Going to Forks also meant that I got to see Jacob.

My mom and Jacob became very close to each other when my family left. Jacob took care of my mom when she was pregnant with us. The only reason they never ended up together is because of me. I hadn't figured this out until I was much older though. I vividly remembered the conversation I'd overhead between my mom and Jacob.

I was playing outside with my brother when I got hungry and decided to go inside and get a snack. I stopped when I heard my mom's voice.

"Right now is not a good time for you to tell her Jacob and I don't want Leah to tell EJ either,"

"Bella I can't keep this a secret anymore. She needs to know and so does EJ,"

"They're only six years old Jacob. Nessie and EJ don't need to know about imprinting yet-"

"But why?!"

"Because they're just kids that's why. I know that you want what's best for Nessie and I know that Leah wants what is best for EJ. But they don't need to know about the imprint,"

"Why not-"

"Because I don't ever want my children to feel as if they're being forced to love you. That's why. I want them to make that decision on their own. If Nessie develops feelings for you and EJ develops feelings for Leah when they're older I'm not going to stop them. But I want them to make that decision on their own,"

It had been seven years since I'd overhead that conversation. I did some research on the Quileute legends on my own and discovered what imprinting was. I never told mom, Jacob, or anyone that I'd overhead their conversation. I didn't even tell EJ. It was my secret.

I didn't love Jacob. Not romantically anyway. He was my best friend. The one person I could always count on to be there for me when I needed him. EJ felt the same way about Leah. Like Jacob and I they were inseparable when we visited Forks. Jacob was my favorite wolf and I missed him so much.

We had the best of times in Forks until the pandemic hit. Once the virus was widespread my mother and father didn't feel comfortable visiting grandpa Charlie. They were scared of accidentally getting him sick. So we stopped visiting and we resorted to having zoom meetings instead. In the end it didn't matter since grandpa Charlie got sick anyway.

Now here I was. Dad and grandpa dead and mom soon to follow. I had no other family. My grandma Renee and her husband Phil had died in a car accident a month before EJ and I were born. So now we were truly alone.

No. I shook my head. We still had the Cullens. Now that I knew the truth about them I didn't think they'd abandon us if we failed in saving my mom.

I closed my eyes and tried my hardest to clear my mind and fall asleep. Eventually it worked. When I woke up a few hours later I could smell breakfast cooking in the kitchen. It smelled like waffles. My stomach growled.

I got dressed as fast as I could before walking to the kitchen. Grandma Esme had already set two plates of waffles out for us along with glasses of milk.

"Is this for us?" I couldn't help but ask.

"Of course it is. I love cooking but I hardly ever have anyone to cook for.. Now I have you two," she smiled as she said that. I smiled back.

"Thanks grandma," I bit a piece of one of my waffles.

"I'm not sure I'll ever get used to hearing that," she sounded happy.

A question suddenly popped into my head and before even thinking about it I asked "Why do you guys have food here? I mean it's not like you guys eat. So I'm curious,"

"It's to keep up appearances. If we ever had human visitors they'd think it was odd if we didn't have any food in the house," she said.

"Do you ever have human visitors?" EJ asked.

"No," she said. "Most humans avoid us. They're not really aware of it themselves but their instincts are subtly telling them that we are dangerous and should be avoided. Your mom was special though,"

I felt like I was going to cry when she mentioned my mom. Grandpa Carlisle stepped into the kitchen then and said "Well everything has been setup. We're going to Seattle today,"

"We are?" I gasped. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"The plane will be ready in three hours," he answered. "and when we land we will head straight to the hospital,"

"You're going to save our mom?!" I felt so elated. We were so close to succeeding.

"Of course. That was never even a question. We're going to save your mom. We're not going to let her die," Grandpa said in a very sincere tone of voice.

"You're going to save our sister also, right? You're going to save Grace?" I asked although I was sure they would. They didn't seem like the kind of people would let a kid die if they could help it.

"How old did you say your sister was?" Grandpa asked.

"She's eight years old. Her birthday was last month actually. Why?"

He didn't answer me. I saw him and Grandma Esme look at each other with equally worried expressions on their faces but they didn't say anything.

"As soon as you're finished eating breakfast go get ready. We'll be leaving for the airport in thirty minutes," he said without even mentioning our sister again.

Why did they care about how old Grace was? Why would that even matter at all?

I shook my head. It was probably nothing. I finished eating and went to get ready to fly back home.

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