Chapter 5: Reunited At Last

Nessie's POV

People were staring but honestly I didn't care. I had my Jacob back and that was all that really mattered. With him it was as if a piece of my heart was finally restored. A piece of my heart that I didn't realize was missing until now. The tears wouldn't stop flowing. I didn't even care that my nose was starting to get runny. None of that mattered right now.

"Let's go Ness," Jacob whispered into my ear.

I was still too choked up to talk so I simply nodded instead. He was about to put me down on my feet when I pointed out my wheelchair. He frowned as he placed me back in it. I looked back at my brother but he didn't seem to noticed. To mesmerized by Leah I think. Seth also stayed behind.

Once we were in relative privacy he grabbed me into a tight hug once again. "I'm so sorry Ness. I'm so sorry," he cried. "I swear I didn't-I didn't realize that you were gone. I never meant to lose you. It was my responsibility to take care of you and I failed. I failed you. I'm so sorry-"

"It's okay Jake," I cried. "It's okay-"

"No it's not okay. I should have realized that you'd fallen off. I should have realized something was wrong. I was supposed to keep you safe and-"

"and I forgave you a long time ago. It was an accident Jake. An unfortunate accident. I knew you didn't mean to lose me. I always knew that,"

He hugged me tighter.

"I'm just happy that you're here Jacob. I never thought that I'd see you again after all this time,"

"I never gave up hope that I would see you again one day. Now here we are. Very clever idea of you to hire a private investigator to find us,"

"You were with my this whole time?" I asked.

"Not exactly," he said. "Once I realized that you were gone I started searching for you. A few months later the Cullens had found me. Without you,"

"and how did my family react?"

He shuddered. "Your parents almost killed me I explained what happened. If it weren't for Carlisle they probably would've torn me apart limb from. Afterwards we went our seperate ways. But I promised them that if I ever found you I'd let them know immediately. They made the same promise to me. So your mother and I kept in contact while we searched for you. I had the rest of the pack search for you as well. So when the private investigator found your family your mother contacted me and I went over there immediately. Now here we are,"

"So they're here? My aunts, uncles, parents, grandparents? They're all here?"

"Yes. Although I could do without the ice cold barbie,"

"Jacob!" I scolded. I always hated how he bickered with aunt Rosalie.

"Sorry. Old habits die hard and some things will never change,"

"So where are they now?" I looked around as if waiting for them to appear. It took me a moment to remember that it was sunny outside today.

"They're waiting for you at a house they rented here. They actually sent me to find you and bring you to them,"

My heart suddenly stopped and skipped several beats. Then it went into a full on sprint. Beating what felt like one hundred million times per minute. I didn't know what emotion was strongest. Nerves? Excitement? Happiness? All of the above? I couldn't say for sure.

"Are you okay Nessie?" The concern in Jacob's voice made me smile.

"Yeah it's just that, well, it all feels so real. I never expected to see you or my family again and now it's happening. Today. Here. Right now," I explained. Truer words had never been spoken.

"Well let's go Ness. If I keep you to myself any longer your parents might decide not to give a crap about the sun anymore,"

I chuckled. "So are we going to walk the whole way?"

"Well technically I was going to carry you and run but that might be a little difficult with your wheelchair. What happened anyway? If you don't mind my asking. As far as I know the private investigator didn't say anything about you being-" he couldn't bring himself to say the word.

"Paralyzed?" I finished for him. "That's a relatively new development. I'm a jockey. Or rather I used to be," I sighed. "That was until an accident a month and a half ago. It left me with a severed spine and now my legs are useless. Just dead limbs attached to my body," I said bitterly.

"Isn't there something they can do?"

"Surgery. But for some stupid reason my foster parents won't allow that to happen. Look can we talk about something else?" I didn't want to get upset. Not here. Not now when I was feeling so happy for the first time in God only knows how long.

"I missed you so much Ness,"

"I missed you to Jacob,"

"Well as much as I wish I could keep you to myself just a little bit longer we're here,"

I felt my breathing increase as I took in the sight of the large house. This was it. Behind those doors were my family. There were a million incoherent thoughts going through my mind as Jacob took a key out of his pocket and opened the door.

There was dead silence inside the house. But I knew better. My family was here. I could feel deep within my bones. I could not calm my fast beating heart. Then when Jacob wheeled me into the living room my heart actually stopped beating.

They were all there. Grandpa Carlisle, grandma Esme, aunt Rosalie, aunt Alice, uncle Emmett, uncle Jasper...my mother and father. They all stared at me. Not moving or saying a word. I suddenly felt a little self conscious. My face and the rest of my body was still covered in nasty bruises. All in different stages of the healing process. Being trampled by a horse running over thirty miles per hour will do that to a person. It would take months to completely heal those injuries. Yeah I must've been quite the sight. Bruised up and bound to a wheelchair.

Literally the only thing stopping me from running over to my parents and throwing my arms around them were my useless legs. My useless caused by a severed spine. I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes again.

"Mom?" I choked out.

Mom suddenly stood up and ran toward me. Her vampire speed caught me completely by surprise as she hugged me as tightly. "Baby," she sobbed. "Oh my sweet baby girl. My little nudger,"

I couldn't contain my tears anymore. My emotions began to spill out of me and there was nothing I could do to stop them. I was in my mother's arms again. After 13 years I was in her arms again. Physically my mother and I were now the exact same age. It was an odd concept when I really thought about it. But that didn't matter. She was my mother. The only mother that I've ever had and loved. It had been 13 agonizingly long years since she had hugged me like this and I was not about to let her go any time soon. We were reunited at last.

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