Chapter Six - Coming Clean
Hope and anxiety filled my chest for the rest of the night. Hope that Juliet could be safe with us, grow up with us and be loved by us. Anxiety because she might hate what we were. Anxiety because if she chose to be a vampire, that would strain her and Seth's relationship beyond belief. Anxiety because if she chose to grow old and die, she would do so while her family stayed frozen in time around her. Anxiety because if Seth told his family he'd imprinted on a soon-to-be vampire, they'd disown him.
But, later as I was laying awake in my bed next to Juliet, I realized it was worth it. She was peacefully sleeping, her face completely relaxed. I let my eyes travel over her, memorizing every detail. I wanted to protect her. Above all, I wanted to be honest with her. I hated living this lie, with the dead parents and the twin sister. That wasn't the Renesmee I wanted her to know. Maybe it was selfish of me to want my best friend adopted by my family. Above all, though, I really just wanted to see her smile.
I drifted off to sleep snuggled up to my best friend, with the scent of vanilla and sunshine washing over me.
I was keyed up all morning after we woke up. My leg kept jittering uncontrollably. Finally, at noon, it was time. Time to introduce Juliet to the real Cullen family.
"Juliet, do you believe in the supernatural?" Carlisle began softly. We were all sitting at the dining room table together.
"What, like fairies and witches?" Juliet scrunched her nose. "Yeah, always have. We can't be the only species out there, right?"
"You're right, although I don't know about the witches and fairies part. Do you believe, in, say, vampires?" He continued with a chuckle.
"Uh, that's a scary thought," Juliet laughed. "But I guess that's possible."
"It is possible," I interjected. "Like, really."
"What are you saying?" Juliet looked around.
"Do you ever wonder why we skipped school on Thursday?" Edward asked gently. "The only sunny day of the week?"
"Hiking…" Juliet said weakly. "Right?"
Carlisle shook his head.
"Why we're so pale, and cold all the time," Edward continued. "Why we seem more graceful, slightly faster, less natural. Our weird, matching eye colors."
"I didn't really… think about it," Juliet cast her eyes to the glass table. "Are you telling me that you're vampires?"
"Yes, Juliet, we are," Carlisle said in his 'doctor-delivering-bad-news' voice.
"Er, are you going to… uh," Juliet gestured to her neck, looking fainter than I'd ever seen her.
"No, of course not, dear!" Esme gasped. "We don't bite family!"
"We don't bite anyone!" Alice chirped. "We actually drink animal blood. We're like vegetarians!"
Juliet puckered her brows. "So there are vampires who bite people?"
We all murmured in assent. Juliet shuddered. "Gross. Yuck. No offense."
"Renesmee is half vampire, half human," Edward said. "And there are some things we need to come clean about."
"Go ahead," Juliet cast a nervous look at me.
"Carlisle is very old, a few centuries, in fact. I'm just over a hundred years old - Carlisle changed me as I was dying. He then changed Esme after an accident and they fell in love. We became a family," Edward told her. "Rosalie was changed as well, and then Emmett. Alice and Jasper found us not long later and joined our family. A few years back, I met Bella when she was a human. We fell in love, and after we got married, Renesmee was born. We changed Bella to save her life, and Renesmee was our rare little occurrence. She grows exceptionally fast, in fact, she's about six years old now. Physically, she's sixteen. When she reaches her full growth, she'll stop aging like us."
"Christ on a cross," Juliet swore. "Nessie, you're just a baby!"
"And Bella's not my twin," my eyes shone. "I'm so sorry for lying to you."
"That's okay!" Jules said hurriedly, grabbing my arms. "No, no, no, don't cry! I still love you, of course!"
"There's more," Edward sighed. "Best to rip off the band-aid."
"Edward, are you sure that's a good idea?" Bella asked, touching his arm. They looked to Juliet.
"I can handle it," Juliet swallowed. "I'm good."
"Seth and Jacob are shape-shifters. They transform into wolves, because they're descended directly from Quileute warriors back in Washington. We affectionately call them werewolves, although that's not an accurate term. When a wolf meets their soulmate, their perfect match, they get something called an imprint, which is a special bond. Jacob imprinted on Nessie when she was born. No, it wasn't romantic love. He has always loved her as whatever she needed. A brother, a best friend, a protector. Jacob is her wolf," Edward said, looking fondly at Jake and I.
"Wait, so," Juliet seemed to be trying to hide disappointment. "Nessie, your dad and mom are Edward and Bella. Carlisle and Esme are like the mom and dad, so they're your grandparents, and Jacob is your soulmate."
"Correct," I patted her hand. "Our family is a little weird, but it works."
"Right…" Juliet said, before looking at Seth. "Have you imprinted?"
The room suddenly was very uncomfortable. Everyone exchanged shifty glances while Seth slowly turned bright red.
"What? What is it?" Juliet demanded. Emmett failed to conceal a laugh.
"I'm not sure how much more she can handle!" Bella protested.
"I did imprint," Seth blurted. "I imprinted on you the second we made eye contact!"
Juliet clapped a hand over her mouth. I could see, though, her eyes squint slightly. I knew Juliet well enough to see she was hiding a smile.
"S-so," she horribly tried to pretend she wasn't giddy. "You're my soulmate, then?"
"If that's okay with you," Seth ducked his head.
"That's definitely okay with me," Juliet gave up trying not to grin.
"Juliet, we really are so sorry for lying, and then unloading all this on you, but there's more you need to know," Carlisle rubbed his temples. We sat uncomfortably while Carlisle explained the vampire laws and the Volturi. Carlisle explained what we had to do to protect Juliet from them, because now she knew our secret.
"The imprint helps," he mused. "Because that makes you a Quileute, at least honorarily. So you're allowed to know about our world. But, the Volturi are finicky and have a problem with our family. They may say the imprint is not good enough and try to use you as a bargaining chip. Your life in exchange for Alice and Edward's services."
"Christ, they sound horrible," Juliet stared at the table. "Why did you choose to tell me all this?"
"We wanted to tell you what the risks were before we offered you a place here," Esme sat down softly, taking Juliet's hands. "We'd like to adopt you. Your treatment in foster care makes us weep, Juliet. We'd love to give you a safe home, a family, a life. It's here if you want it."
My heart pounded painfully. If it beat any harder, I was scared I might lose it.
"I… don't know what to say," Juliet began. My heart dropped. "I mean, are you sure?"
"Heavens, yes," Esme rubbed her hands. "Of course we're sure. Eager Alice over here has been buying things for your bedroom."
"Really? You're serious?" Juliet said, as if she was worried we'd jump out and say 'gotcha!'.
"We're serious as hell, Jules," I leaned closer to her. "It'd be an honor to have you as a Cullen."
"I'd be Juliet Cullen, then?" She whispered, trying it out.
"Yeah," I grinned. Probably not for long, I bet a thousand bucks that in a few years you'll be Juliet Clearwater, I thought with butterflies in my chest. Edward gave me a scolding look.
"If you're a hundred percent sure," Juliet said carefully. "A hundred and ten, then yes."
"Yay!" Alice sprang up. "I want to start building your room!"
Everyone celebrated while Alice shot off like a rocket, presumably to wherever she hid Juliet's new things. We were allowed about ten minutes of celebration before Jasper borrowed Juliet to go over what she needed to know about being a Cullen.