Perfect
I sat at my desk with one hand balled in a fist on my cheek, supporting my head. Mr. Sanchez's lecture on the Mexican American war was distant. I knew all this already. I could probably teach him a thing or two about it. My husband Edward had tutored me on everything humanly and inhumanly possible for the last five years. Instead I kept glancing at the clock, even though I knew exactly what time it was.
I tried to occupy myself by watching the birds fly between the trees in the woods on the other side of the parking lot, but my brain still had plenty of room to worry. I sighed impatiently. I had all the time in the world, but it didn't help these days.
My friend Jacob glanced at me and quickly wrote me a note on one of the pages from his notebook. He made sure Mr. Sanchez was not looking before handing me the scrap.
Are you OK? You seem stressed.
I did not have to see if the teacher or anyone else was looking. I took the piece of paper and started writing below Jacob's note. In the back of my head, I noted how much my penmanship had improved since I was a human. Still, everything looked better against Jake's scrawl.
Just worrying about Nessie. It's her only class alone.
I knew no one would see me write, or pass the note to Jake. That was one of the smaller advantages of being a vampire; superhuman speed. The only evidence I left behind was a slight breeze as my arm flew between our desks.
Since Jake was a werewolf he was in on the secret. He was also part of my family now that he and Renesmee were engaged. My husband Edward had wanted him to wait till she was at least six, but we gave them our blessing. With her being a vampire hybrid, I thought they should get married before she stopped growing, though I still cringed at the thought of my little girl leaving me. She would always be close but she would not be in arms reach. She would be in La Push with Jake.
The Cullen family had grown considerably since we had lived in the small town of Forks, Washington. That town seemed to be the most dangerous town for humans to live in, despite its low population and lack of anything to do. But, for the people who knew about the mythical happenings in the small town, it was a scary place to live. The most dangerous places in the entire town had to be the werewolf covered Quileute reservation, or the vampire infested Forks High School. It would mostly depend on your preference of monster.
When I was a human I had been in on the secret world of mythical creatures, and I had paid with my life. I did not mind becoming a vampire. It was what I had wanted since the beginning, but for anyone else, it was that or death according to the rulers of the vampire world, the Volturi. I still shuddered at the name.
To keep my parents from meeting the same fate, we clued them both in on my being a vampire without actually telling them. They knew there was a mythical world now that Jake had phased for them, but all they knew about the rest of us was that we were different. Jake had shown my dad, Charlie a few days after I was transformed. He was lucky that I had super self control for a newborn vampire. Any other newborn would have drank his blood on the spot. Charlie was too freaked out to ask for the details. He only wanted the strictly need-to-know information.
My mom was harder. When Jake had phased for Renée a few years later, instead of freaking out like we had expected, she was fascinated. She wanted to know everything. We managed to keep her on the same need-to-know basis as Charlie. It was the perfect way to keep my family without endangering them. The only one who did not know about it at all was my mom's new husband Phil. He did not really need to know, so we saw no point in telling him.
My dad had married Sue Clearwater about three years ago. She had known about the mythical world of werewolves and vampires long before Charlie and Renée had. She had made it easier for Charlie to be around us. They were both in the same boat. They both had kids that had turned into strange creatures without warning.
These thoughts moved to the back of my head as Jake passed the note back.
Don't worry. It is her last class of the day. She will be fine. What are you worried about anyway? What could happen?
There was plenty to worry about; what if someone noticed her rapid growing, or her high temperature, or worst of all, her gift. If she touched someone by accident they could see her thoughts, and that would be bad for all of us. We would have to move far away, and this was the perfect school.
Port Angeles High School was still close enough to the Cullen's house that we would not have to move, but far enough away that the people would hopefully not recognize us. Most importantly, it was near Charlie. We knew it was risky, but I had promised him that I would stay for as long as I could.
Carlisle worked part time in Seattle now to help us stay undercover. It was a long drive even speeding the way we all did, but the hospital in Port Angeles would have recognized him by his accomplishments.
Esme decided to try to get Sam's pack to let her restore an old log cabin on the reservation. That was not an easy task. If it wasn't for Jake's persuasion and the upcoming wedding (ug) it never would have been aloud.
Instead of bothering Jake with all my worries, I just wrote:
You're right.
I handed the note back to Jake, and concentrated on counting the syllables in each of Mr. Sanchez's sentences.
Mr. Sanchez dismissed the class about two minutes early, and Jake and I walked to the parking lot together. Rose, Emmett, Jasper, and Alice were waiting near Edward's Volvo and Rose's BWM. Because of our size it was necessary to have both the Volvo and the Convertible with us.
"Where is Edward?" I asked Alice when we got to the cars.
"Coach Brenner is making everyone run extra laps for National P.E Day."Alice said in her normal cheerful voice. "He will pick up Renesmee afterwards. Her class is being held late too. Mr. Zienburg is going overboard on his advanced genetics lecture. They should be here in a couple minutes."
Emmett saw me sigh. "Impatient, are we?" he laughed.
"I don't need to be able to see the future to know she will be ok." Alice comforted me.
"Relax." Jasper told me, and I did.
Rose, Alice, Emmett, and Jake laughed at my suddenly calm expression. Jasper's talent was probably the only one that got on my nerves. Sure it was a helpful talent to have around. When it was not being used on you.
"Seriously Bella," Rose said. "She will be fine. Just think of something else. Renée and Charlie are visiting this afternoon, remember? They wanted to congratulate Jake and Nessie on their engagement. "
I always loved it when Renée came over to visit Renesmee. I had felt bad at first that Renée had missed Nessie's "toddler years", but they had fun together anyway. They loved taking walks in the woods together at sunset, and they loved to watch the bats silhouetted against the sky at twilight.
By the time Alice spoke up I had forgotten about my worries.
"Here they are."
I looked up to see the two halves that made up my existence walking toward me. Edward, my archangel of a husband, and Renesmee, my beautiful daughter. Their matching bronze hair, being blown by the wind as they walked slowly towards us.
When they reached us I gave Edward a quick kiss with superhuman speed. I did not want to get caught kissing Edward, even though it went with our new story. Carlisle had taken in Rose and Jasper when his widowed sister died. Esme had taken Emmett, Alice, and me in when her brother and his wife died in a car crash, and had later taken in Edward and Renesmee when her friend died. Jacob was their foster kid.
"Hey Mom." Renesmee greeted me.
"Hey Nessie." I said as I wrapped my arms around her.
"Let's get out of here." Jake said enthusiastically. The others muttered in agreement, and got into the convertible. Edward, Renesmee, Jake, and I got in the Volvo. We never buckled up in the cars. We did not see the point. We couldn't get into a car crash, and if we did, the only thing getting hurt would be the car.
Edward let Rose out first, and followed her on the road home. We had to follow the speed limit in town, but once we were outside the limits we would be home in no time.
"When is Grandma Renée coming over?" Renesmee asked me as she leaned over my seat from the back of the car.
I turned around to look at her. "Alice said she would be over at four." I answered. "She also said that she is bringing you something special."
Renesmee's eyes lit up like a child. Even with her adult mind, she had the curiosity and creativity of a child. She pleaded with her eyes for me to tell her.
I put my hand up to my mouth and made a motion like I was locking my lips with a key, and she slumped back in her seat with disappointment. Jacob chuckled, and took her hand. Edward smiled at Renesmee as she rolled her eyes at Jacob.
Most of the ride home was quiet. Renesmee rested her head on Jacob's shoulder and dozed off about half way home. We listened to the CD that Edward had given me for my horrid 18th birthday. It was one of the few things from my birthday that I liked, or cared to remember.
She woke up when we started on the three mile drive to the house. When her eyes blinked open, Jake smiled at her and nudged her with his elbow.
"Have a hard day at school or something?" he teased. "You were out cold."
She sighed and stretched her arms before answering.
"No." she yawned. "I've just been having some strange dreams lately."
"Like what?" Edward asked.
"Well," she hesitated, "there are these dark shapes that are hovering around this crystal that is shaped like a person that's all curled up. It looks like they are hurt, and for some reason I feel sad. Like I knew them and now they are dead. The weirdest part is that the packs and all of us are there too. At the end of the dream Seth starts howling and then I wake up."
I immediately looked down. The description she gave me made me uneasy. The black shapes sounded a little too similar to the figures in my dreams before I had Renesmee. It was probably nothing, but the thought made me shiver slightly.
"It's just a dream Ness." Jake said as he rubbed her shoulder.
When we reached the house, it was three thirty. I made Renesmee take a shower and get into something nice for Renée. She did this without hesitation. Alice had followed her upstairs to help her choose an outfit.
When she came downstairs she was in her white silk dress. It had little pieces of triangular ice blue cloth that hung down from the edge of the dress until it reached the one large white triangle that was part of the body of the dress. The sleeves had little blue triangles hanging down too, and around her waist was a blue ribbon. It was one of my favorites because it reminded me of ice sickles. The contrast with Nessie's bronze hair made her look even more stunning.
It was one of the dresses Alice had gotten made for her. Alice loved designing outfits for Renesmee. Any chance she got she would make her wear one of her creations. They were usually too fancy for casual wear so Alice saved them for Renée came over. I always knew Renée would love them. She enjoyed seeing Nessie all dressed up.
Edward sighed, and then chuckled under his breath. Before I could ask him what was so funny, Alice leaped down the stairs behind Nessie, and by the look on her face I could tell it was my turn to be tortured. She didn't just design for Nessie anymore.
"Your dress is in my room." Alice sang as she skipped to grab me by the elbow.
I moaned and resisted her pull.
Alice looked back at me with a mischievous smile.
"If you don't come peacefully, I'll tell Renée."
She knew that Renée would be disappointed if she found out I had refused to dress up for her visit. If it was just Charlie I could have gotten away with it. He knew the torture of being Alice's life sized doll.
I sighed, and surrendered. As Alice tugged at my arm, I thought of happy things; watching Nessie play with the family, Watching Edward and Alice play chess, watching Jasper and Carlisle fall into the river while they were wrestling…
When we got to Alice's room, she dropped my hand and ran to the closet. The happy thoughts continued until Alice took the dress out of the bag.
"Well?" Alice asked, looking hopeful.
"I have to congratulate you Alice." I said with a grimace. "You have successfully come up with one more way to kill a vampire. Seriously! What the hell are you trying to do? Kill me?"
Alice rolled her eyes, and Emmett's muffled laugh came from downstairs, joined by the laughter of Edward and Jake.
The dress that Alice held was made of dusky pink silk. She knew I hated pink and silk. If that was not bad enough, the top and skirt of the dress was covered in frilly pink lace with tiny white pearl beading. Pink, silk, lace, and frilly. There was no happy thought in the world that could help me escape from this.
"Just put it on, and stop complaining." Alice laughed, as she handed me the outfit. "I need to get dressed too." She said as she grabbed another dress bag, and went to the bathroom to change.
I closed my eyes and stripped to my underwear so I could slip the sleeveless dress over my head. Of course it fit perfectly.
Why couldn't they have messed up the measurements on this one? I thought as I put on the pearl necklace and clip on earrings that were in the box next to the dress bag.
When Alice came out to do my hair, she was in a dark grey dress with light grey frills on the bottom. Silver buttons connected the frills where they left an opening on the hem. She did not need to get dressed up for Renée, but this was Alice we were talking about. She loved anything to do with fashion. She even made Rose dress up.
As I was thinking about it, Rose came up in her cream knee length dress with a large gold button bunching up the silk by her left thigh, so that a fountain of silk hung down from the button.
"Ok. Why am I the only one who has to look like an idiot?"
Rose laughed and Alice rolled her eyes.
"Renée is coming up the driveway." Rosalie sang.
"I know." Alice said, teasing her sister.
Rose rolled her eyes, and headed downstairs. I couldn't help giggling.
"Alright. You're all done. Don't pick at the pearls! I don't want to have to put them back on." She kept mumbling as she dragged me back downstairs.
When Jake saw me in the frilly nightmare he tried to hold back a laugh. A chuckle came out of Edwards's mouth too. I thought they were thinking that I looked as silly as I felt, and my lower lip started to tremble.
Edward saw my reaction and immediately stopped laughing and ran to me. He held me in his arms.
"You look wonderful darling." He reassured me. "It is just that you look like you are being burnt at the stake." He chuckled again and kissed me.
"Stop being so melodramatic Bella." Alice complained. "I designed it myself just for you."
"You could have shown some mercy." I grumbled back, and this sent a new wave of laughter through Jacob and Edward.
"I like it." Renesmee chimed in. I did not know where she inherited her tolerance for Alice's ensembles, but it was certainly not from me.
We heard Renée and Charlie walking up the steps of the porch. It sounded like Renée was dragging him towards the house. Charlie had always been more hesitant to come over. After seeing Jake phase, he had been a little unsettled around him.
It wasn't that he did not enjoy coming over. It was just that, like all normal humans, he felt uncomfortable around mythical creatures. Renée and I were the rare exceptions.
"Hey everyone!" Renée beamed as she opened the door.
"Hey mom." I said as I walked over to give her a hug. It burned my throat, but I was used to it now and it did not tempt me anymore. I moved to hug Charlie who was still standing in the doorway.
"Hey Dad." I said timidly.
"Hey kiddo." He said as he hugged me back with the same timid expression that was echoing in his voice. "Lookin'…good. Very….frilly….and pink."
I heard Emmett chuckle behind me.
"It is absolutely adorable" Renée smiled. "Nessie, you look so lovely. I love the dress. Oh, Rose, that has to be one of the most gorgeous dresses I have ever seen. Alice, you are amazing!"
We let her swoon over the dresses Alice had tortured us with for a while. It did not take long for her to remember the reason for her visit.
"Well," Renée began, "Where is the ring?"
Renesmee held out her hand for Renée and Charlie to see. I did not have to see the ring to know what it looked like. It was a silver band with small crystals going all the way around it. In the center was a diamond. Jake had asked me to help choose it. He had said that he did not know how to choose an engagement ring, and did not want to mess up. I knew what Renesmee liked, and I knew she would love it.
"Oh," Renée gasped, "it is beautiful."
"You did a good job Jake." Charlie complimented.
"I can't take all the credit." Jake replied, and he turned to wink at me.
"When is the wedding?" Renée asked with excitement.
We all looked at Alice, who had started beaming. We all knew she was the one who would eventually plan the wedding.
"It will be this summer." Alice sang. "July twenty third at the beach on the reservation." It would be sunny that day and the elders finally agreed to let us cross the border.
I thought of the rainbow pebbles on the beach when the sun came out. They would glisten in the sun, and the water would turn ice blue. It would be beautiful. The perfect place for the wedding.
As the talk of the wedding plans continued, Edward got quiet and started mumbling to himself about how Renesmee was still too young, and how Jacob was not good enough for her.
I elbowed him in the side, and he immediately stopped. I had made him promise to have a good attitude about everything. But when I went to scold him, his eyes met mine and my mind went blank. That should not happen to me anymore. I was a vampire.
Edward saw what happened. He chuckled and quickly pulled me in for a kiss. I would never get tired of that.
Alice, Esme, Renée, Rose, and Nessie talked about the wedding, and discussed everything from the flowers to the Dress.
When the topic of food came up, Jake jumped right in. It was agreed that Emily and Edward would handle the food together. Edward was one of the best cooks in the family and Emily had the tools to make the food in the large quantities necessary. Both packs would be there, and they would need plenty of food.
"Well," Renée began when they were finishing up with the wedding plans, "it is almost sunset. Who wants to go for a walk? Or a run?" she winked at Nessie.
Renesmee extended her hand, and ran to her grandma.
"You too Charlie." Renée called to him. "You could use the exercise."
I heard Charlie mumble I'm healthy as a horse, and trudged towards Renee.
"Why don't you come too Bella. Let's have a family walk."
I usually stayed at home with Edward when Nessie and Renée went on their walks, but I could not say no to Renée this time. I kissed Edward and want to join my mom, dad and daughter.
The walk was nice. It was warmer out than usual. Renée kept the conversation going, and I let the sound of her voice become a peaceful hum in the back of my head. It was so nice having Renée know about the world of mythology. I remembered when we told her.
I could hear Renée's car coming up the driveway. Charlie was waiting outside with Jacob and Edward. I was so nervous that my hands were shaking. Was that possible?
"Are you sure I shouldn't put the contacts in?" I asked Alice.
"Don't worry." She sang. "Your eyes are close enough to gold that you won't need them."
"But she might feel more comfortable if I had my old eye color." I argued.
"Bella," Alice said as she put her hands firmly on my shoulders "she'll be fine."
"How do you know?" I retaliated.
Alice glared at me and let go. Emmett chuckled at her reaction to my moment of worry. Alice rolled her eyes at both of us.
"Jasper," she called, and I felt a wave of calm crash over me.
I felt a tug on my jeans, and looked down to see Renesmee reaching for me. I bent down so she could reach my face. The image she showed me was full of curiosity.
"Your Grandma is coming to see you for the first time." I told her. "It will be like Grandpa." I hope.
"Hello Edward. Jacob." I heard Renée greet them outside. "Charlie said you wanted to tell me something, and that I couldn't bring Phil." I heard the puzzlement in her voice, and heard her shift her weight as she looked for me. "Where's Bella?"
"Before you see Bella," Edward began. "Jacob and I must share some things with you." He paused before starting again. "You do not live in the world you thought you lived in Renée. There are things in this world you have only dreamt of. Charlie?"
I heard Charlie take her hand as Jake started to phase. I heard the tearing of cloth and the thud of paws on the ground.
There was an intake of air from Renée, but the sound I had been expecting was missing. There was no screaming or vomiting or even the sound of a body hitting the ground.
I heard Jake come back out from the bushes after he had phased back.
"Amazing." I heard Renée gasp. "It's impossible. Are you a…werewolf?"
"Close enough." Jake laughed. "Man Charlie, she is a hundred times better than you were."
"This is all so…..cool!" Renée started again " Do you have special powers? What can you do? Wait! But what does this have to do with Bella? Is she a mythical creature now too?" She was starting to sound like some fan girl who found out her favorite fantasy was coming to life in front of her eyes.
"In a way." Edward began. "We can't tell you everything, because it would put you in danger, but she is…more like us now. I must also warn you that we have acquired another person who is more special than all of us."
This was my cue. I took a gulp of air before turning the corner and walking out the door.
I saw Renée's eyes bulge for a few seconds when she first looked at me. I smiled at her. "Hi Mom."
It took her a couple more seconds to compose herself before she gave me a big hug.
"Oh Bella. I missed you so much." She cried. She did not even cringe away from my cold hard skin.
When she stood back, she saw Renesmee hiding behind my legs.
"Is this who you were talking about?" she asked as she peered at the hidden face behind my legs.
I nodded, and Renée smiled and knelt down so she could talk to her.
"Hello. I'm Bella's mommy." She said to Renesmee in her kindest voice. "What is your name?"
"My name is Renesmee." She sang. "It is nice to meet you."
Renée gasped at the sound of her voice and her flawless grammar, but she quickly collected herself.
"It is nice to meet you too." She began. "Come here so I can see you."
Renesmee looked up at me to make sure it was ok. I nodded, and Renesmee stepped out from behind my legs.
Renée's reaction was similar to Charlie's. She saw my eyes, Edward's face, Charlie's curls, and I could see her counting in her head.
"She is…"
"Edward's niece." I interrupted. "We adopted her after his brother and his wife died."
Renée was not fooled. "Bella, she has your eyes, needless to say Charlie's hair."
"That's sort of need to know."
Renée was extremely stubborn.
"But she has to be about three or four years old!" Renée disagreed.
"We can't tell you the specifics," Edward comforted her "only that she is special. We are keeping you on the same need-to-know basis as Charlie. It is for your own safety."
Renée pondered all the new information for a while. I was getting nervous until she finally looked at me and Renesmee.
"I'm a grandma?" she asked.
Everyone laughed, and went inside. Renesmee won her over in no time. They had been very close ever since.
The sun was setting, and the sky was a mix of red, pink, and orange. By twilight, we were back to the house, and Renesmee's eyes were fighting to stay open.
"Well, I better give you your present before you pass out." Renée said with a chuckle, after finishing her story about Phil's argument with the umpire at his last game.
Renesmee's eyes lit up like a child on Christmas. Renée always had fun and unique gifts for Nessie.
Renée reached into one of the bags she had brought with her, and pulled out a small, square, package with silver wrapping. It would fit in Renesmee's hand. Nessie carefully tore off the paper to reveal a mahogany box.
Renesmee lifted the lid, and a familiar song drifted from the box. Somewhere Out There was one of Nessie's favorite songs. A little bride and groom danced in front of the mirror that was placed on the lid.
"I thought it would be nice to put memories from the wedding in. Like a kind of memento box."
"It's beautiful. Thank you grandma." She whispered as she flung her arms around Renée's neck.
"Your welcome sweetheart." Renée said as she hugged her back. "Well, I guess we better be going." She told us after hugging Renesmee.
Charlie and Renée gathered their things and got them into the car. Everyone hugged them goodbye.
"Bye Dad." I said as I hugged Charlie.
"Bye Bells." He whispered. "Love ya."
"I love you too dad." I whispered back. "Tell Sue she can come over next time." I laughed.
Charlie chuckled. Sue did not like to come over when Renée was here. She did not want to get in the way.
I turned to Renée to give her a hug before she left. I threw my arms around her and hugged her as tightly as I could without hurting her.
"I love you mom." I whispered to her before she got into the car.
"I love you too honey." She replied, and hugged me tighter.
Everyone waved as the car disappeared down the driveway and into the night. As soon as it was out of sight I turned to face Alice.
"Can I please get out of this dress now?" I begged. I was ready to get on my hands and knees if necessary.
"Yes." Alice rolled her eyes. "I will need to keep it so don't you do anything to it."
I ran upstairs, and quickly shrugged out of the pink disaster. I hung it in the darkest corner of Alice's closet, before leaving.
When I got back, Renesmee was dosing off on Jake's shoulder, so Edward picked her up, and we walked slowly to our small cottage in silence.
The crickets were singing, and an owl took flight in the distance. The purple night was full of magical creatures, who quickly hid as we walked by.
Everything was peaceful. Everything was perfect. It had been about five years since the "incident" with the Volturi. But we had scared them off, and now everything was perfect. I had eternity to spend with my daughter, and eternity to spend with Edward. Our lives were normal again, and everything was the way it should be.
I looked into Edwards eyes, and we started running together towards the house, hand in hand. We reached the small stone cottage that was tinted purple from the night.
We walked through the stone arch above the open door, and down the hall to Renesmee's bedroom. Edward carried her to her bed, and tucked her in, and I gave her a goodnight kiss.
Edward and I walked silently to our private heaven, and with one passionate kiss from Edward, he led me into one of my favorite parts of my forever.