Chapter 1
The basic routine of my life is a fairly monotonous one; four years in school – that's being a freshman, a sophomore, a junior and a senior – then it's on to six years of college, either actually spent attending lectures or just pretending, you know, for appearance sake. This is how it is if you're put into the group of looking 'the youngest' in our family. If you're lucky enough to be in the older-looking group you enter into the system a year above, and get an extra year at 'college'. Then we move on.
I am currently on my third cycle of this. Well, technically my second, as my first ten years didn't exactly allow me to be caught up in school.
The years of 2006 and 2007 were the most pivotal of my life; it was when I was given everything I had ever desired without realizing that I even wanted it – and then within a few short months it was nearly snatched away. However, due to much planning and help from many others like us, we were able to come out on top.
Because of that pivotal year I sit here now, in the passenger seat of the car, on our quiet drive, in the arms of the most beautiful man I have ever set my eyes on. He put supermodels to shame; I think even the statue of Adonis would be in awe of him. He is not just a beautiful man though, he's much more; he is the most caring, thoughtful, generous, gracious, and loving man I have ever met. This is my husband Edward, and oh yeah, we're vampires.
As well as being changed into a vampire, trading my human life for immortality, I also got the most wonderful and unexpected gift ever: a beautiful daughter, my Renesmee, conceived while I was still human. This was something I never thought was possible due to a vampire's body being frozen in time. My body, however, was not, and therefore made it possible for us to have a child. Half human and half vampire; the most wonderful creation ever brought into this world. I fed on blood to keep my baby alive and, on September the 10th, we were gifted our daughter Renesmee. The pregnancy nearly killed me but I hung in there just long enough for Edward to make the change so I could become a vampire. I was then able to join his family and have him for eternity.
Meanwhile, everyone (human that is) would be under the assumption that we had gone on to live a very happy and wonderful life, while I distanced myself from those I loved. This was mostly a safety precaution, just in case I got 'thirsty.'
We suddenly pulled into the harbor and I was brought from my memories to the present. The rest of our family were already waiting for us. As Edward got out of the car to chat with the others, I turned around to the back and gently shook Renesmee awake.
"Nessie, come on love, wake up. We're here. We have to get out now," I said as Renesmee began to stir awake with a groan. She placed her hand to my cheek and showed me her memory from the past thirty seconds tainted with a large amount of annoyance.
I gave her a small smile to show my sympathy. "Sorry honey, but we have to leave now; we really can't wait to hang around. Even the morning will be leaving it too late."
"It's fine for you leaving at this time – you don't need sleep! Four AM is just ridiculous!" Nessie replied curtly.
"Sorry honey, but come on, I need to get this car in the cargo holder." Renesmee slid out of the car, I moved over to the driver's seat, and drove the car into the open holder in front of me. Once safely in place, I exited the car to join the others.
"Right everything is ready, the taxis are waiting for us just outside, so we better get a move on," Carlisle instructed us.
"You sure everything is prepared there?" Edward inquired
"Yes, I spoke with the realtors before we left and everything is in order. I will have a lot of work on my hands over the next few months," Esme replied.
"What about everything we need now?"
"Don't worry Edward, I spoke with Lewis and everything is sorted, he has destroyed all documentation leading us to our current aliases, and has moved our money without a trail so we cannot be tracked by anyone. You know Lewis, he's good at what he does. I have the new documents here already, it's all under control." Jasper then turned to me, still sensing my annoyance. "Sorry Bella, I know you like to handle these things, but I think under the circumstances it was best that I dealt with them. Don't worry, I won't be doing it again, although it was fun," he added with a smirk. "I know that he'll be only too relieved to be dealing with you again."
I shook my head and huffed at his callousness.
"What about our cargo here? Have we made sure it's going to the right place, and that no one will be able to trace it to us? I mean, I don't want it to end up in the wrong hands!" Edward continued ignoring mine and Jasper's slight banter.
"Don't worry, I've checked it over again and again, it's not going anywhere we aren't and it won't end up in the wrong hands either. I have looked ahead and everything is clear and will go smoothly for us, and even if it didn't and we end up losing it all, it wouldn't be too bad, right? I mean we can just re-buy everything, you know I wouldn't mind doing that for everyone, take the chore off everyone's hands. I can't see why we are taking all this with us in the first place! They're just cars Edward, you can buy new ones!" Alice said.
At this, Edward growled to Alice, "I was actually thinking about the fact that if we left everything behind when our house was searched, they may have found something indicating what we really are. The same goes for it ending up in the wrong hands." Alice rolled her eyes, huffed, and quietly said something along the words of 'fine', giving into Edward's retort. "Plus they are classics," Edward added, receiving glares from Alice.
"Don't worry, we've only taken the essentials and our favorite items," Carlisle comforted her. "There will be plenty of opportunity for you to shop for everything else, and I'm sure we will all need new outfits for where we are going. Besides, Esme will need help with refurbishments"
To this Alice's eyes lit up. "Music to my ears."
"Come on now, we really need to get a move on if we want to catch our flights," Carlisle said.
We swiftly moved out of the harbor and rounded the corner where two large taxis were waiting for us. Edward, myself, Renesmee, Alice, and Jasper got into the first one, while Carlisle, Esme, Rosalie. and Emmett followed in the second.
As we settled into our taxi ride, I began to think about how I had managed to keep everything I have ever wanted, even my best friend Jacob, though I had been sure he would leave me once I had been changed. He was a werewolf after all, and we are mortal enemies. After a couple of glorious months of this happiness, everything was taken away in an instant. After a mistaken identity, the Volturi thought we had raised an immortal child. However, after we made them pause and showed who Renesmee really was and that she was not a danger, they retreated, and we were able to really appreciate what we had, knowing that we had everything.
The next seven years were spent in the town of Forks, Washington (whilst friends thought Edward and I were away at Dartmouth College). This was so we could stay close to my father Charlie, who was aware I was something 'different' once he saw me. My appearance had altered through my change to make me more beautiful to my prey, along with my voice, my movements, and the color of my eyes, all indications of what we really were. We also stayed so Jacob could remain close both to his pack and to Renesmee; which was another surprise for us as Jacob was attached to Renesmee in ways I shall never understand, but once he set eyes on her, his universe changed and now revolved around her. Renesmee was like that, you just couldn't resist her; she was perfect. These seven years were also spent watching Renesmee grow into a beautiful young woman, who after these seven years looked like an eighteen year old, and we knew that she would not grow any more as she was fully physically matured, thanks to Carlisle's meticulous measurements.
I watched as our taxis pulled into Seattle airport and into the departure area of the airport. We all took our hand luggage out and headed to the check-in desks. As we walked inside I saw amongst the crowd a figure of a very large man, reaching seven feet tall, with long dark brown hair tied back with a band behind his head. His russet-skinned face settled its eyes on to our large group and his face broke out into a massive smile as his eyes gazed upon my daughter.
"Jake!" Renesmee yelled as she spotted him as well. She sprinted off into his arms and planted a huge kiss onto his all too willing lips.
After their quick greeting, Jacob headed over to us, Renesmee still in his arms. "Hi guys," Jacob said with a sympathetic smile. A chorus of hi's greeted him, along with hugs from myself, Edward, Esme (who will hug all our family members), and Alice (she had never forgotten the peace he gave her during my pregnancy), and a hit on the back from Carlisle, Emmett, and Jasper. Rosalie continued to pretend he wasn't there.
"Nice to see you too, Rose," Jacob remarked, which was replied to by a short humph.
We made our way over to the check-in desk to get our eight boarding tickets for our flights and two departure lounge tickets, and handed over our new passports, courtesy of Lewis Jenks. Once we were all checked in, we headed over to the departure lounge to wait for our flight to arrive and say our final goodbyes to the two staying behind.
After the seven years in Forks we decided it was time to move on, so we packed our belongings away and moved to the small town of Darrington just outside of Seattle. We chose it for many reasons, first of all it was still fairly close to Forks so I could often visit Charlie, second Jake wanted to stay close to his pack and to Renesmee so he could divide his time between the two, thirdly it allowed us to go to a small school and keep up our inconspicuous lifestyle, as well as Carlisle being able to get a job in a hospital in Seattle. It was also near the forests, enabling us to hunt as often as we needed.
That's another reason why our family of vampires is not like most. Vampires don't usually call themselves a family: they are in covens, or often even nomads, nor do they have surnames. As for our surname and our family, we are the Cullens, made up of Alice and Jasper, Rosalie and Emmett, Carlisle and Esme, and myself, Edward and Renesmee. The reason we call ourselves a family is because of the lifestyle we have chosen; all of us live off of animal blood rather than human, and because of this, making us more human, we are able to form bonds that those who drink human blood would not usually be able to form.
Just then, our flight was announced over the intercom for boarding. A quick set of hugs were exchanged between those staying and those leaving, and everyone headed off to our flight gate. Edward, Rosalie, and I stayed a short while longer just to say our final words. As we watched the others leave I turned around, and at the same time, Edward and I took Renesmee into a huge embrace. I sobbed my tearless cries and then we pulled away.
"You be careful now, Renesmee!"
"Of course I will Mom; I've got Jake here to look after me, not that I need it."
"I know dear, but for the sanity of my mind, please do not go anywhere without him or someone trusted to look out for you."
"Don't worry Mom, I've seen how bad things can get. I will be extra careful, and keep an eye out for you, make sure it all blows over."
"Thank you." We shared a moment's silence, not knowing what to say next. "You'll keep in contact whenever you can, everyday if possible – Oh God, I sound like my own mother, how did that happen?"
"Don't worry love, it's only natural to get protective at this point. I still can't believe I have even agreed to this!" Edward said shaking his head.
"Because you know it's what's best for me," Renesmee replied.
I turned then to Jacob. "You take care of her, you hear me? If I hear that anything has happened, you are the one to blame, no exceptions!"
"Chill Bella, she's safe with me and you know it."
"At least you can finally see where I was coming from whilst you wanted to spend time with Jake back when you were a mere fragile human," Edward said to me sarcastically, to which I replied with a glare.
The intercom then announced the final boarding call for our flight. All of us hugged together. Even Rosalie didn't mind being close to Jake.
She then turned to Renesmee. "I will miss you so much Nessie, you take care and come see us as soon as possible!"
"I will, and I'll miss you too, Aunt Rosalie," and then she whispered, "my favorite aunt," which received an even bigger hug from Rose.
"I'll miss you Nessie, you'll always be in my heart," I said
"Listen to your music if you ever get homesick, and we'll only be a phone call away if you want me to play you something. Though call us about anything, you don't have to hide your homesickness if you're feeling it, just to appear independent. I know I will miss you terrible, more than I can imagine. Keep safe," Edward added.
"Don't worry Mom, Dad, I'm in good hands, I'm safe here, now call me when you land. I love you, and you, Rose, and send my love to the others."
"Wish everyone the best from me as well," Jake said, a little sadness residing in his voice. I'm sure he was also a little distressed to be losing the family he had built up over the years.
"We love you both dearly," Edward and I said. One solitary tear made its way down my daughter's cheek as the final goodbyes were said. Edward kissed her on her cheek and I followed suit, also kissing away her tear, her wonderful scent passing through my lips.
And with that, we parted from my daughter and my best friend, and headed off to the gate to board our plane, marking the beginning of the start of our next new life.
A/N:
I just want to say a huge thank you to my Beta Boufanu, who without her I would not have written this story; actually I would not even be in the world of fandom or even twilight for that matter! And a massive thank you to my other beta antebellum, who puts up with my constant improper use of the comma, and persists though it trying to sort me out! Also a thanks to Samantha88 who reads and encourages!
Hope you enjoy my first hand at writing, seriously I have never written anything fictional before. Please read and review!!
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