Okay, a few quick notes:
1. According to everything I've read, Nessie was born Sept. 10 2006. And, obviously it's been six years since then. So, yeah.
2. I've put it that whenever Renesmee is using her ability to talk, it'll be in italic with quotation marks. The other times that it's all in italics, she's thinking it to herself.
3. I will be doing these in different perspectives, but it won't usually change during the current chapter. If you want another perspective on a certain chapter, you must request it; even then I will need a certain amount to actually do it.
4. Any questions, either email me or just review and if it won't ruin the surprise of future chapters I'll answer it on the next chapter I post. I may not answer all, again due to wanting to keep things surprising, and if I don't answer you, don't be offended, it may just mean that you're good at guessing or just asked a question that'll spoil future chapters. I like surprising people!
5. Okay, just kidding, I'm done. Enjoy the chapter and review.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Twilight series, Stephenie Meyer does. I just own the OC characters and the situations I created for them, and, of course, my writing style (So don't steal those! Because I know how to get copyrights done if need be and could for MY characters! laughs evilly But seriously I do, so don't).

1. BIRTHDAY SURPRISES - (RENESMEE'S POV)

"Renesmee Carlie Cullen! Get your butt out of bed or so help me I'll throw both you and your bed into the river!" I yawned and finally opened my eyes to see my Aunt Alice practically bouncing across my room towards me with a look somewhere between excitement and annoyance. She beamed when she saw my eyes open and leaped onto me, as I started sitting up, from halfway across the room.

"Finally! You know how long we've been waiting for you to wake up? You know I can't see your future! Come on everyone's waiting!" I groaned and looked at her small, pixie-like form on top of me, but I couldn't help but smile at her. She was always so hyper and today she seemed even more so than usual – that's when it hit me and I smiled even wider – today was my birthday!

I playfully shoved her off of me and got up at super speed, laughing at the slightly indignant scowl that had appeared on my aunt's face. That's when I noticed that standing in the doorway was my parents, Edward and Bella Cullen. They were watching the scene with huge smiles stretched across their flawless faces. "Where's Uncle Jasper?"

"Morning sleeping beauty" my mom said as I ran over to them and gave them a big hug. "Morning mom, morning dad! How was your night?" They exchanged a loving look with each other and then my dad said "Not much, but you better hurry and get dressed before Alice drags you away. The family is waiting for you." I gave a rather sheepish grin, "Sorry, I was having a nice dream. Hey, Aunt Alice where's Uncle Jasper?"

I felt Aunt Alice's two small, strong hands grab my arms, spin me around, and start pushing me towards the huge closet that had been constructed for me a few years back – Aunt Rose, Aunt Alice, and Grandma Esme decided I would definitely appreciate the closet space in the near future. They had been right since Aunt Alice made it her mission to buy me every style of clothing known to man – or vampire – kind.

"He's helping set up the rest of your party over at La Push. Those mutts are just so slow, like a certain niece I know. Now less talking, and more dressing. I've already picked out an outfit for you that I know you'll look really cute in." I huffed out a large breath and glumly stated, "You know Aunt Alice, I am old enough to dress myself now… physically at least." Turning me around after we reached the inside of my massive closet, and pouting a little, she said "Hey, I still dress your mother and you don't hear her complaining do you?"

"Not in front of you I don't," my mother mumbled, but – due to our super acute hearing – everyone heard it, resulting in a chorus of laughter from everyone present, but Alice. After a second of annoyance, she said with an impish grin, "Also I think that Jacob will also think that you look really cute and I know how much you want to impress him." I blushed as my heart sped up, and looked down at the floor at my feet, memorizing the patterns of wood.

I could hear a small hiss emanate – definitely from dad – from my room, along with a sigh from my mother. Although everyone already knew about the whole Jacob-imprinted-on-Nessie thing and there'd already been six years to accept it, my parents were still reluctant about it – well, dad was more against it than mom, and I was still trying to completely figure out all of my feelings towards him and it always made me blush when anyone brought it up – pretty much everyone knew that I had a crush on him for a long time to which, thankfully, Jacob pretended to be clueless. I mean, I am only six years old, even if I'm physically seventeen – and mentally more like thirty. Besides, Jacob had never brought up the imprinting to me. He just seemed content to let me discover my feelings in my own time.

The only reason I even knew about the imprint was because I could already understand every word that my family said before I was three days old. Although I didn't really understand what an imprint meant before Leah – one of my best friends and the only female "werewolf" that we know of – explained what it was a year ago; she seemed really sad when she was explaining what it was to me, so I asked her why she looked so sad.

She reluctantly told me the story about how she was Sam's girlfriend until he'd imprinted on Emily and even confided in me about how before I was born she'd started developing feelings for Jacob, and how he'd then imprinted on me and she'd had to get over a second loss, though not nearly as bad as the one with Sam. I immediately felt horrible and apologized to her, but she'd surprised me by laughing.

"It's not your fault, and I don't blame you either. I'll admit that at first I resented you, but I soon came to love you like a little sister and couldn't hate you anymore. Besides, it wouldn't have worked between us anyway… I'm destined to be alone. I've accepted that I'll never imprint and I don't see how I can ever fall in love again after all I've been through." She laughed again, but it didn't reach her eyes. I felt really bad for this woman I called my friend and wished there was something I could do, so I did the only thing I could think of.

I reached over to her face and placed my hands on both sides of her face and sent her a message, "Don't say that. I know that there's someone out there that is destined to be with you. And I know that you'll find him some day." She took my hands in her own as tears welled up in her eyes and slid down her face. She smiled gratefully at me and simply said, "Thank you Nessie."

It became clear to me what I meant to Jacob, or to be more precise, would mean to him in the future. And that, for me, meant pretty soon, so I was feeling rushed. I do love him, but am I in love with him? I mean, I've heard all of the stories – well, mostly all – about how my parents, aunts and uncles, and grandparents, had fallen in love. Leah even told me some of the pack's imprint stories after I told her of my Jacob-epiphany. They all sounded like the fairy tale romances that I always read about in my, rather large, collection of books. They're my favorites, I always love how the hero, or heroine, would overcome all odds, kiss, get married, and finally live happily ever after; not always in that order.

Alice laughed her bell-like laugh – which to me sounded a little too knowing – and threw me a garment bag. I hesitantly opened it up and gasped at what I saw. It was a beautiful dress. The material was delicate and flowed lightly across my hand. Aunt Alice looked at me caressing the material and, looking rather smug, stated, "It's silk, and not the cheap kind, being as it's made by Roland Mouret. Just call it an early birthday present." I hurriedly put it on which, with help from Alice, only took a few seconds.

I stepped out in front of my full-length mirror after we finished putting on my new dress. It fit perfectly! The color was sapphire blue, sleeveless, and came down to just below my knees. I did a little half-spin and looked at the back. It completely covered my back, but not in a back way and had a cute little drape that hung like a sash from the lower back. I spun around and wrapped Alice in a big bear hug. "Oh I love it! Thank you Aunt Alice!"

She laughed and returned the hug, "You're welcome Nessie. Now how about putting me down so we can finish getting you ready?" I dropped her down and she gracefully danced away back into the closet, grabbing a pair of black heels that covered just the toes and buckled above the ankle. I thanked Aunt Alice again and then she sat me down to start doing my hair. Mom came over and helped while dad went over to my piano and started playing the lullaby he composed for me after I was born. I smiled at him and mentally thanked him. He answered with an added little flourish to the music.

While they worked, I'd started imagining my Jacob holding me in a warm – in his case, very warm – embrace and kissing me for the first time, which made me blush and my heart speed up, when I heard dad growl deeply and realized he'd been listening in to my reminiscing and had seen my little daydream. My face turned bright scarlet, which my mother and Alice saw and looked to me and my father, a little confused. I berated my father in my head, so only he could hear it – when I was younger I used to use my ability to show people memories/images as a way of communication. At first I could only do it through direct contact, but after a few years I learned to send images as well as talk to others with my mind over distances of about ten miles, depending on how well I knew someone – I could sort of feel their life forces and send my thoughts to them. However, since then I've used it less often, so that if ever I was allowed to go to a real school, as opposed to my family's homeschooling, I wouldn't go back to using it out of habit and freak people out.

Now I put the full force of my power, though he could hear my thoughts perfectly fine since his power was hearing other people's thoughts, behind my next thoughts and shouted at him, making him wince. "Ohmygod dad, a little privacy would be nice!" Then I thought about what he'd just heard and realized that I'd just got Leah in trouble, I wasn't supposed to know the full extent of imprinting yet. Toning down my thoughts I quickly said, "Dad, don't take it out on her, I sort of put two and two together after she told me the basics of imprinting… stupid Aunt Alice bringing that subject up." My dad gave a rather forced sounding chuckle and put his hands up in defeat.

After they finally finished fussing over me, I looked in the mirror. At first, I didn't recognize myself. I'm not vain and usually never put on any make up because I found it a little ridiculous, due to my vampire heritage, to add to what I already have. There's not much you can do when you have a flawless complexion, perfect teeth, and your skin glows slightly in sunlight. I'd just recently started wearing a little to cover some of my blushing, when I was around Jacob. So I was surprised at the fact that I was so done up.

I looked over at my parents and Aunt Alice questioningly and reached out with my mind to my mother and Aunt Alice. I showed them the memory of myself in the mirror and asked them, "What's the special occasion, it's just my birthday?" They both smiled and I looked over to see dad smiling at me too – he could hear me even without my powers. It was dad who answered, "You'll find out soon enough Nessie. And by the way, you look beautiful sweetheart."

I saw a little glimmer of something in his eyes, like he was trying to hide something from me that he didn't like. But after a second, he turned back to the piano. I heard my mom give a halfhearted chuckle at my dad; I guess she'd seen the look he gave me as well and reciprocated. After a final quick inspection, we left our home and I started towards the garage when they stopped me. Aunt Alice was again bouncing around – how I wished that Uncle Jasper were here to calm her down – as my mom and dad handed me a little box.

My dad said, "Here's one of your presents from your mom and me." I took the little present and started to open it while my mom added, "We thought it was time you had one." Inside was a set of car keys with Jaguar etched into the platinum car alarm keychain. I looked at them, shock and excitement apparent on my face, "You got me a car!? My own car… and it's a Jaguar!?" They laughed at my reaction, but I didn't wait around long enough to let them answer. In an instant I was in the garage, after all but ripping the door from it hinges, and there it was, the new, sleek, midnight black, 2012 Jaguar ZLS convertible in all its glory (a/n: doesn't exist yet, but it sounds cool).

I started jumping up and down, doing a fairly good impression of Alice's hyper bouncing, and ran over to my new car. I climbed inside and sighed fondly after looking around for a second. The interior was ivory leather and had all the best trimmings - they'd gotten the Limited edition portfolio with the rich oak veneer, which made it even more wonderful – and it had a great sound system. I jumped out of the car and embraced my parents, nearly tackling them both to the floor – which, with them being vampires, wasn't easy.

"Oh thank you, thank you, thank you! I love it! I thought you weren't going to get me one until next year!" My parents exchanged a look, again looking a little wary – I wondered what all the looks were about. My mom smiled and said, "We decided that it was time you had your own. We did kind of miss you sweet sixteen." I laughed at the little inside joke, and everyone else joined in. Then Aunt Alice, again a little too excited, said, "If you all don't get your butts up and in the car I'm going start breaking things!" With a false yelp I got up and leaped for the driver's seat, soon followed by the rest them jumping into the back seat – making me feel like a chauffer – and started driving towards the La Push reservation.

Since Jacob imprinting on me, the treaty between my family and the Quileute pack had strengthened dramatically, even to the point of allowing my family to come with me when I visited, which was often. Most of the wolves were still slightly wary of my family, excluding me, being allowed in La Push and so would always insist on an escort, to which my family would accommodate without complaint – although they did complain about the smell… Aunt Rose especially liked to complain about the "wet dog smell", to which I would say that I didn't smell anything.

We soon arrived at the La Push border where Jacob was waiting to escort us the rest of the way. At first he didn't seem to recognize me before I realized that this was the first time he'd seen my new car and that he probably couldn't see me through the heavily tinted windows. After a few seconds of staring at the car, his jaw dropping so low I could imagine it becoming unhinged, he seemed to compose himself and started towards the passenger-side door, a big goofy smile on his face as he caught sight of us, and probably our scent as well, as I retracted the convertible's top.

I thought, with a smile and a slight lifting feeling in my stomach, that maybe it was just me and my scent he reacted that way to, as he jumped into the car, forgoing the use of the door, flashing me an even bigger grin as he settled in his seat and turned slightly to look at me while I continued driving.

"Hey Nessie, happy birthday, it's been a while since I've seen you."

I smirked and unsuccessfully suppressed a laugh, "Hay is for horses Jacob, not wolves, and what do you mean it's been a while? You just saw me yesterday!" He waved his hand in the air, "Sure, sure… Still missed you." He paused, turning further as he actually looked at me fully for the first time, and took a quick intake of breath. "By the way… You look amazing." At that moment, I was really glad for the make-up that I was wearing for it concealed most, but not all, of the blood that rush to my face. "Thanks Jacob." I was pleased, if not a little surprised, to see that he was blushing too, until he looked quickly to the back of the car as my father coughed, getting his attention.

Jacob looked a little embarrassed, "Oh, hey Bella, Alice, Edward… How long have you been here?" My mom looked a little affronted but I could see the smile that tugged at the corners of her mouth. My dad had a slight scowl – probably hearing Jacob's thoughts – while Aunt Alice looked proud of the reaction my appearance had gotten out of Jacob. I held back an urge to stick my tongue out at her. Alice smiled, "Gee, thanks Jacob. Nice of you to make us feel welcomed, maybe we should have brought you a doggy bag to get your attention." That seemed to get the proper response that she wanted because everyone was laughing, even Jacob, and her eyes had a triumphant gleam to them.

We finally arrived at First Beach where my party was going to be. At first, everyone had said that it probably wouldn't be a good idea to have it there – due to the fact that vampires sparkle like diamonds in the sunlight. But Aunt Alice had assured us that the weather would be cloudy with no rain – and it's hard to argue with a person whose ability is to see the future – so everyone's worries had been pacified. From what I was told before hand, everyone I knew would be there including the entire pack and their wives/girlfriends, Grandpa Charlie and Grandma Sue who'd been married for four years now, Billy Black, and Tanya's coven.

Unfortunately, since we were going to be having the party in La Push Zafrina, Kachiri, and Senna weren't allowed to come, but they'd mailed me my present – I didn't even know they had Fed Ex in the Amazon. I was happily surprised that Garrett was allowed into La Push. Although he took quickly to our "vegetarian" lifestyle, due to his love of challenges and Kate, he still had to be careful not to slip back into his old habits – namely drinking human blood.

The party was great – probably the best that I've had in my short – and it became even better when, after blowing out the candles and eating some cake, I opened my presents – I had so many presents that I lost track of what I'd gotten. After the last of the intricately wrapped gifts were open, my parents came up to me and gave me a slip of paper, on it was a class schedule. At first I thought that it was for my homeschooling and was trying to figure out how this could be a present, but then I realized that at the top it said: Forks High School Schedule for 2012-2013 – Renesmee Carlie Cullen. I looked up at my parents, who seemed a little worried. It was my mother who spoke first.

"Nessie are you okay? You need to breathe honey, remember?" I had stopped breathing when I'd read it and didn't even notice it. Immediately I took a deep breath, my mind still didn't seem to fully grasp what was going on and was racing to catch up, "Me… High School… Seriously?!" Still looking worried, but a little hopeful, my father replied, "Yes, but if you don't want to you don't have to sweetheart. You could continue to be homeschooled you if you'd …" I had sprung on my parents, this time knocking them flat on the ground while laughing wildly.

"No! No! I want to go! Ohmygod I've been waiting for this for forever thank you! But I thought that you said that I couldn't go until I'd stopped growing?" I said all this in a rush and in one breath. "Calm down Nessie. Again, breathe and we'll answer you." My mother said, a hint of a smile touching her lips. I sat back up and took a few more breaths, after my mother looked satisfied that I was calm and breathing enough, she continued.

"First off, we had decided to wait until you were old enough to go to school. Actually, I wanted to let you go last year, but your father talked me into waiting at least another year so that any more changes wouldn't be too noticeable to your classmates."

"Carlisle figured your aging would slow to a point where you would age normally for the last year of your "development", so we decided that it was safe to send you since you'd said that you would like to attend a regular school." My father said, still looking a little dismayed of my answer – I don't see why, he knew that I wanted to go. I hugged them again and, to make my father feel a little better, gave him a peck on the cheek and sent him a private message, "Dad I'll be fine, it's not like I'm leaving the family. It's just school, not another country. I love you daddy." He smiled and hugged me close, he'd always liked it when I called him daddy – and, shamefully, I'd used it plenty of times to get my way.

Jacob helped me up while my parents scrambled back to their feet. He knew that I didn't need the help, but I found it sweet that he wanted to – and I also found that I wanted him to as my heart quickened its pace. As I straightened out there came the sound of slow music, I looked over to see Aunt Alice standing next to the stereo that Jasper had gotten me as a present, she winked at me as Jacob pulled me toward him, "May I have this dance birthday girl?" I looked down as he looked me in the eyes and nodded. We danced for a while, and I looked around to see everyone else dancing with their significant others as well. I noticed how nice it felt to be held by Jacob's strong arms and was wondering if he liked it too as we slowly swayed to the music. I was trying to decide if I should lay my head against his chest, and get closer to him or not when he spoke up, breaking me out of my reverie. "So, I hear you're going to high school soon, are you excited?"

"Yeah, but I'm kinda nervous too. I'm not going to know anyone there since my family are playing graduates right now, and I don't know if anyone will like me." Jacob busted out laughing and I took it as offensive and started pulling away from him. He stopped mostly and pulled me back to him, "Ah come on, I'm not laughing at you… Well not exactly at you. First off, everyone will love you and I'll probably be beating the boys off of you with a stick…"

"Or a bone you mangy Dog." My Aunt Rosalie mumbled under her breath, Uncle Emmett chuckled. Judging by the look Jacob sent her way, he'd heard her. "Please be nice to him Aunt Rose, I don't want any fighting on my birthday." Then I added, "Uncle Emmett, help me keep her in line just for today." She sighed and nodded once and Uncle Emmett gave me a look that told me he would do it but I'd owe him big time. Jacob continued, "Anyway as I was saying before Blondie interrupted, you won't be alone because I'm going with you."

This threw me and I looked up at him incredulously. "Are you kidding? You're what, twenty-two? How do you plan on going to school with me?" His smile widened and he bent over to whisper in my ear – I felt a little tingle where his breath blew on my skin, "You remember Nahuel right?" I nodded as I remembered his name.

Nahuel, another vampire-human hybrid that lived somewhere in South America that had helped save my family from the Volturi, and from what I remembered, had taken a more determined interest towards me over a year ago on his last visit. He'd decided to switch to the vegetarian lifestyle and had even gotten his Aunt Huilen, his actual aunt whom he'd changed by accident after he was born, to change to it with him so he'd be able to live in Forks near us – my family and the Packs had insisted on this if he was determined to live there and he'd agreed without hesitation on his part. Nahuel and his aunt had decided to master the new diet and gain control over their bloodlust back in South America so that they wouldn't accidentally hurt anyone that we knew. The last time we'd heard from them, they were looking for Nahuel's sisters who had ran away after their father, Joham, was finally captured and executed by the Volturi. Thankfully, they'd allowed his sisters to live and had even found Nahuel to let him know that his sisters had fled.

"Well, Nahuel says that he's found his sisters and that they were eager for a change in diet. He also says that one of them has an ability manipulate memories, which is how he says they escaped the Volturi. She says that she manipulated their memories so that the Volturi believed they'd let them go. It was lucky for them too because Aro, Marcus, and Caius had decided to be there to witness their 'trial' and they'd been sentenced to burn like their father." I gasped, "That's horrible, I'm glad they're okay… But what does this have to do with you going back to school?"

Well duh! It means that I asked him if his sister would manipulate the memories of the residents of Forks so that it seems that I'm still seventeen. Also, Carlisle asked him to make it so that all of Forks, with exceptions to La Push and your grandparents, will think that your family has only just moved to Forks so you guys won't have to move anymore!" My mouth was hanging open by the time he'd finished, "All of Forks? She's able to do that?!" "Yup, apparently she'd told Nahuel how she'd made an entire city somewhere in Brazil forget about a little accident they'd had in a building. Their father had practically destroyed three floors trying to get one of those people your family call singers in broad daylight. She made them believe that it had been the employee committing suicide by bombing the place." He shivered, "Thankfully, she says it takes a lot out of her and even hurts when she uses it on leeches, so she doesn't like doing it often. But I, for one, am really glad that your mom can shield you guys in case she goes leech on someone and tries to cover it up."

After I'd gotten over the shock of what he'd just said, I was ecstatic, "We won't have to move anymore? That's great! So I can stay here with everyone I love… Wait, I bet it was you who gave Carlisle the idea wasn't it." He put on his most innocent mask, "Who me? Nah… well, maybe I mentioned something about my idea, but it was Carlisle who got the idea for Nahuel's sister to help them as well." I laughed and gave Jacob a hug who returned it. "Thank you Jacob, that's the best present I could have received."

"So… are you happy that Nahuel… I mean… that his family will be moving here?" I looked up at Jacob and there was something there that, at first, I couldn't identify. Then I realized that it was jealousy, was he jealous of Nahuel?! So I wouldn't hurt his feelings I shrugged my shoulders and made my voice sound as neutral as I could without making it sound fake, "I guess. It'll be nice having some other girls that are like me to talk to, and Nahuel is a nice guy." I blushed as I realized just how close I was to Jacob at that moment. He'd noticed me blushing and again he laughed, which made me blush more. To get him to stop, I started to pull away again, teasingly this time, which made him pull me back again. "Geez will you please stop doing that? Again, I'm not laughing at you… It's just that you look so damn cute when you blush like that." I blinked and thought about what he'd just said.

He thinks I'm cute? Did he mean the good "I-love-you-you're-beautiful" cute or the bad "you're-a-cute-little-kid" cute? "And besides, I didn't give you your present yet." That got my attention, and I couldn't help but ask, "Really? Why not? Where is it? Wait, you didn't spend a lot did you? Because I know you don't have that much" He stifled another laugh, just in case I tried to get away again, and settled for smiling, "Hey, if you don't want it…" He shrugged and started to pull away like I'd done, but I wasn't having that. Curiosity getting the best of me, I held him in place and smiled innocently at him, "What would have given you that idea? It is my birthday so I guess I'll see it."

Looking pleased with himself, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a long, worn, black velvet box and handed it to me. I opened it and inside was a silver necklace with a turquoise stone hanging from it. "Oh Jacob, it's beautiful." He smiled, but it looked a little sad, "It belonged to my mother. She died when I was still very little." I thought I might cry, he looked so sad, "Are you sure? If it belonged to your mom maybe you should keep it." He sighed and as fast as the sadness had come, it was gone. He took the necklace from the box and unclamped it, "I think she would have liked you to have it. Here, turn around."

I turned so he could put it on me. As he did a wave of emotion passed through me, and at first I thought it was from Jasper – he was looking right at me and seemed annoyed – but I realized it was all me as he finished. I ran my fingers over the turquoise, enjoying the feel of the smooth stone against my skin, and turned back to thank Jacob. But something happened and, instead of me saying thank you, I reached up on my toes and kissed him on the lips. I don't know who was more surprised, me, Jacob, or the rest of my guests who had stopped dancing to look at us for a second before quickly turning back to their partners. I had pulled back as fast as possible and now stood two feet from where I'd just been standing, turning bright pink in my embarrassment.

Jacob was looking at me as if he'd just received the greatest gift in the world, "Um… that was unexpected." He said with a very un-Jacob-like smile – it looked very good on him. Oh. My. God. I just kissed Jacob! My first kiss and I'd made a fool of myself! – His lips were soft… I shook my head and, looking horrified, I stammered, "I…I…I'm so sorry Jacob." Still smiling and looking a little dazed, he said, "Sorry? Why are you sorry? You didn't…" But I hadn't waited to hear the rest. I was running before my mind could catch up with my body. I realized what I was doing just as I heard Jacob yelling after me, and heard the struggling that was probably the Packs trying to keep him from phasing and coming after me. I shouldn't have run like that, but no matter how much I tried I couldn't stop myself until I reached the house and dived for my bed.

I didn't mean to kiss him, but I did… And I liked it. A part of me was happy that my first kiss had been with Jacob after such a romantic gesture on his part and arguing that he hadn't look disappointed, but another part was yelling at me for being so stupid that I'd kissed him without it being mutual and that he might not feel like that for me yet – no one knows if there's an age limit for when imprints turn into love. Jacob had yet to treat me as anything more than a best friend and I'd just kissed him. There was also another part of me that was thinking about how it had felt when our lips met, how warm his skin was – even in comparison to my own extreme heat – and how my heart had fluttered at his touch. All these thoughts, warring with each other, had me crying before I even hit the mattress.

After what seemed to me like hours, though it may have been only been minutes, there came a knock at my door. "Nessie, it's your mom… May I come in?" Unable to find my voice, I sent her a picture of the door opening. She came in and sat next to me, I turned to her, but didn't meet her eyes, "Are you okay baby?" I shook my head slightly but didn't say anything. "Do you want to talk about it?" I started to shake my head no, but stopped. I wanted to talk to her about it; I needed to talk to someone and who better than the only person whose mind was closed to my father. I sat up and used my ability to show her what happened.

She waited until I was done before reaching out to hold me. I went willingly and started crying again onto her stone-hard chest, the tears were absorbed into the material of the blue blouse she was wearing, soaking it. She didn't say anything, but just let me cry myself out and rubbed circles on my back to help console me. When I couldn't cry anymore, I sat up and hugged my knees to my chest and said the first thing that came into my mind, "My car?" My mother smiled, "Your dad is driving it home for you, and said he would keep it just under the speed limit so we wouldn't be bothered while we talked." I looked at her with surprise written all over my face. My entire family, including me, were speed-freaks. My father especially liked to go fast, so just the fact that he was willing to go the speed limit – let alone below the speed limit – must mean that everyone was really worried about me. I hugged my knees closer and rested my forehead on them. "I really screwed up didn't I?"

Mom placed her arms around me and hugged me to her side, "No baby, you didn't do anything wrong. You're still young and these feelings are new to you and can be very confusing at times. I had my share of it when I first met your father, and I know that he did too."

"Yeah, but did you kiss him in front of everyone you knew?"

My mother looked a little embarrassed, "Not at first, but I really wanted to. But if he'd given me a gift like the one that Jacob gave you, I know I would have."

"But he probably doesn't feel that way towards me… I mean I know the imprint…" I stopped before I could blurt out that I knew about the imprinting and what it entailed, but it didn't matter because my mother cleared her throat and had a guilty look on her face. "Actually, I already knew that you knew about the imprint." I stared at her dumbfounded, "But how? Did dad just tell you?" Again, she looked guilty, "No it wasn't dad… Leah sort of told me about your conversation." I couldn't help but ask, "How long have you known?" She smiled ruefully and her answer came out sounding like a question, "Ever since it happened?" I sighed and shrugged, "I guess it doesn't matter… Wait, does Jacob know?" My mother shook her head, "No, Leah is very good at hiding her thoughts so no one in the Pack knows yet." I let out a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding, "That's good, I wouldn't want Leah getting in trouble."

My mother gave me a warm smile, "I know you wouldn't want that… So… do you love him?" Blood rushed into my face and again I laid my head on my knees, trying to hide the evidence. "Mo-ther!" She quickly threw up her hands and chuckled, "Sorry, but I couldn't help but ask. After all I'm a mom and am obligated to be nosy when it comes to boys." This made me smile and we both laughed. For the millionth time, I was glad that my mom had survived my birth; I couldn't imagine what my life would be like without her in it. "I don't know, it's still so confusing, and he hasn't acted like he might like me… So I don't know." My mom again gave me a hug, "Don't worry, you'll figure it out. Until then, enjoy yourself, and don't feel the need to rush, let things happen naturally." My mom's the coolest; she always knows just what to say to make me feel better. I returned the hug gratefully, "Thanks mom, I needed to hear that."

"You're welcome my angel." Just then, we could hear the sounds of the cars coming up the driveway. "Wow, nice timing," I said and smiled, "I guess I should call everyone who came and apologize for running off."

"That's a good idea… Would you like me to call Jacob for you?"

I thought about it for a second and shook my head, "No, it'll be better if I call him. It's my mess to clean up. I just don't know what I should say to him…"

My mom smiled widely and bent over to whisper in my ear, "Would it help if I told you that after he calmed down, he was grinning like a love-struck fool the rest of the time we were there?" My face must have given her all the answer she needed because she got up and walked towards the door. "I knew that would help. I'll see you downstairs baby. I love you."

"I love you too mom. And mom…?" She stopped and turned back to look at me, "You're the best." She smiled widely and then she was gone, closing the door behind her. I sat there for a while and thought about how much had changed it one day. Well, this is one birthday I won't soon forget. Things are definitely going to get interesting now.

Wow, 6,608 words not including these A/Ns (7008 with them). So… What do you think of it so far? Is it good or bad? Anyway, I'll update as soon as I can, but again I'm pretty busy. Oh and for anyone curious about the name of this fanfic, it will become clear in the chapters to come. And the actual Hunter's Moon was on Oct. 14th-16th this year… Did anyone see it? Please review, I'd really appreciate it, and it might motivate me to write faster if I know I'm doing a good job (I write pretty slowly because I'm a little too meticulous/reserved when it comes to writing actual stories… scripts are easier). Let's try for at least six to start with (since this chapter is about Nessie's sixth birthday… get it?). Anyway, later.

For anyone interested in seeing the dress described above, email me and I'll send it or the link (if it will allow me to). I hope it was a good choice.