Chapter 3: Searching
Bella's POV
There were a lot of things going through my head at the same time. Alice had been acting strange all morning. She must have had a vision but she was refusing to tell anyone what it was. She was even trying her hardest to block Edward from her thoughts. Maybe I would have just brushed it off as typical Alice behavior if she hadn't been trying to block out my husband or the cryptic text message she'd sent me when I was halfway to Seattle.
Bella you're going to arrive in Seattle an hour before you're scheduled appointment with Mr. Jenks. You need to use that extra time to go to the store and pick up a few things. A car seat for newborn babies, some diapers, baby bottles, and formula. You'll find out why we need those things soon enough. I'd tell you already but where would the fun be in that?
What Alice could have foreseen that made baby stuff necessary is completely beyond me. Excluding Jacob nobody in our family could reproduce. There hadn't been a baby in our family since Renesmee. I let out a deep shaky breath. It had been 17 years since I last held my baby girl in my arms. 17 had gone by but the pain of losing her had never better. She was a miracle that had been stolen from us. She was kidnapped when she was only a few months old. A vampire had somehow snuck by eight vampires and one werewolf and stole her in the dead of night. We searched for her and never found her.
I sighed and glanced at the backseat where I had already setup the car seat. I shook my head. Part of me thought Alice was crazy. A bigger part of me told me that I shouldn't question Alice. I parked the car right outside of J. Jenk's office with five minutes to spare. As soon as I was done here I would make the four hour drive back to Spokane.
I walked up to the receptionist who looked very shocked to see me. Which was strange since I knew that J had told her I was coming.
"Bella what are you doing back here? Did you forget something?" she looked very confused.
"I haven't been here in a long time. So I don't what you're talking about,"
"But, wait, what?" she looked extremely confused.
"Bella?" Mr. Jenks walked out to greet me. "It's nice to see you again. I'm glad that you're finally here,"
"It's nice to see you again to J," I shook the man's hand.
"So Bella what can I do for you this time?"
I gave him a list of all the documents that I needed. We were planning on moving out of Spokane to Rochester, NY in the next few months and I was here to get all of the necessary documents with our new identities. "So when is the soonest that you can have them by?"
"I can have them by Friday. Say by 6pm?"
"That sounds good. I'll see you then," I stood up and was about to leave when he stopped.
"Wait Bella. There's something that I wanted to ask you,"
I was genuinely confused now. I sat back down.
"About an hour before you got here another girl came in here and purchased some documents as well. She looked so much like you that my assistant and I initially took her for you," well that would sort of explain the lady's strange reaction when she saw me. "She offered me this bracelet as a down payment and I thought you might recognize it,"
He dropped the bracelet into my open hand. I froze in shock for I recognized this bracelet. Edward and I had given this very bracelet to our baby girl a few weeks after she had been born. We had made by a jeweler just for her. She was wearing it when she'd been kidnapped.
"The girl said her name was Renesmee and that she had no affiliation with your family whatsoever. But I recognized the crest on her bracelet. I just wondered if you knew her?"
If I were a human I would be hyperventilating right now. My daughter. She had been here. My daughter had been here. "Yes I know her. She was taken from us many years ago,"
"I knew it. And she said that you'd say that you'd never heard of a girl named Renesmee,"
"What was she here for?"
"First she was here to ask about the job I was hiring for. Then she ended up buying several documents. She seemed a little nervous. I hope she's okay,"
"What documents?"
"She asked for a driver's license as well as birth certificates and passports for her and her son,"
"She has a child?"
"A baby boy. Only a few weeks old,"
My daughter was here. She was here. I had a grandson.
"Where are they staying?"
"Sacred Heart Shelter," he said. "I'll give you the address if you'd like,"
After he gave me the address I left as quickly as possible. Alice knew. Of course she did. That's why she asked me to buy baby stuff. She knew that I would find my daughter and apparently my grandson as well. Then she must know what I'm going to do now.
Just then I heard a text come through Of course I know what you're about to do silly. Nessie is going to say yes to coming home with you. Please hurry up. I had to leave the house to keep this a secret from Edward. Please take care of my niece and grand nephew. I can't wait to see them.
Of course Alice was going to have her fun with this. It was hard to surprise anyone in our family but she sure was trying her hardest to pull off the biggest surprise of all. It sure was a surprise for me. I couldn't wait to bring them home. They would be welcomed with open arms once everyone got over the shock. I couldn't wait to see Edward's and Jacob's reaction. Jacob lived with us now. He had in every sense of the word became a member of this family. Much to Rosalie's chargrin.
I sped all the way to the shelter and had to work to contain myself when getting off the car. I walked up to the receptionist asked if they had a guest named Renesmee.
She looked surprised. "Are you twins?"
"Yes," I said.
"Then why-oh nevermind. I will go get her for you,"
She left and returned a few minutes later with a very confused looking teenage girl. She looked at me for the first time and we both gasped at the same time.
"Oh holy hell," she voice had a southern twang to it. "This can't be happening," she murmured. "I'm dreaming," and I could see exactly where her shock came from. She looked exactly like I did when I was 17 and human. I could see why J and his assistant confused us. We were the same height, had the same hair color, same facial features, same physique. The only difference was my skin was slightly more pale and I had gold eyes whereas she had my human brown eyes. We could have passed for twin sisters or clones.
"Are you really my sister?" she started to cry. Her words cut straight through me. I wanted to yell out the truth. I wanted to scream that I was her mother but I couldn't. Not yet.
"Yes. Yes I am," it was painful to lie to my daughter like this but I didn't have a choice.
Her tears started flowing. I approached her cautiously. Not sure what I should do.
"I'll leave you two alone to talk," the receptionist said.
"But how?" Nessie cried. "Why would they keep you and dump me?" she cried.
"You weren't dumped. You were stolen from our family. Our parents never stopped searching for you. You were wanted. You still are,"
"You're Isabella Cullen aren't you?"
"You can call me mo-err Bella," I walked up to the girl and was surprised when she hugged me first. I hugged her tight. If I could cry I would be in tears by now. For the first time in 17 years I was hugging my daughter.
"Here I was thinking that Mr. Jenks was crazy. He was right,"
"Nessie do you want to come home with me? I know you'll be welcomed with open arms. Our family can explain everything to you and I know you'll be welcomed there,"
The baby in her arms started crying. "Shhh," she rocked him gently. "His name is Tyler. Do you want to hold him?"
"I would love to," I said.
"I'd like to meet your family as well Bella,"
"Our family," I corrected.
The little baby boy squirmed in my arms before settling in. Even though I'd only just found out about him I already loved him more than any grandmother has ever loved a grandchild before. He blinked a few times and fell asleep. I had my daughter and I had a grandson. In just a few hours the whole family would know that we had found Nessie and that we had another addition to the family.
I couldn't wait to bring them home at last
