I began to wake up when I heard momma growl quietly, and Emmett laughing at something downstairs. I noted again that that was the reaction I that was trying to build in my chest when I thought something was funny. Momma hissed a bit, and I remembered that I fell asleep when Charlie was still there. I sniffed the air, searching for his scent, but it was nearly gone. I wanted him to come back, so I reached for momma's neck, telling her.
"Charlie will be back tomorrow," she reassured me, a relieved smile on her face. It made me happy to see that.
I looked around, noticing aunt Alice, Emmett, daddy, and momma. I was then passed to Daddy's arms.
"It's a little dense, don't you think, to antagonize the strongest vampire in the house?" Daddy asked Emmett as he held me, and I wondered what he meant. Emmett laughed his loud bear-like laugh.
"Please!" Emmett continued laughing.
"Bella, do you remember a few months ago, I asked you to do me a favor once you were immortal?" Daddy murmured to momma. I glanced up, curious as well. Uncle Em was still laughing.
Momma gasped, "Oh!" and Aunt Alice laughed, seemingly at something she'd seen in the future. I smiled at her, she had a pretty laugh, like everyone else. My Jacob peeked around the corner, his mouth stuffed with food, curious. I thought this was funny.
"Emmett, how do you feel about a little bet?" Momma asked.
"Awesome. Bring it." Emmett said, on his feet almost instantly. Momma nervously bit her lip, probably noting that he was a lot taller and more muscular than her.
"Unless you're too afraid...?" Uncle Emmett suggested.
"You. Me. Arm wrestling. Dining room table. Now." Momma said in a somewhat defensive, tough tone. Uncle Emmett grinned.
"Bella," Aunt Alice quickly spoke, "I think Esme is fairly fond of that table. It's an antique." I looked at grandma and watched her mouth a quiet "thanks" to Alice.
"No problem. Right this way, Bella," Emmett smiled at Grandma and Emmett headed out the back. Everyone followed behind them. What was arm wrestling, though? I was confused. Daddy leaned down slightly and whispered to me, an amused grin on his lips, "You'll see in a moment." I nodded in return.
There was a moderately-paced river about 50 feet away, and uncle Em walked towards a large rock in an irregular shape. He placed his elbow on the rock, waving momma over. I smiled as we all followed behind, standing a few feet away from the rock. I noticed how strong Emmett looked compared to momma. He had large muscles while she had slender arms, with a little bit of muscle. I was worried. Was he going to hurt her? What were they doing with the huge rock?
"Okay, Emmett. I win, and you cannot say one more word about my sex life to anyone, not even Rose. No allusions, no innuendos-no nothing." Momma said plainly.
"Deal. I win, and it's going to get a lot worse." Emmett replied, narrowing his eyes.
"One, two-" Momma began, grabbing his large hand,
"Three," Emmett said, shoving against Momma's hand.
Nothing happened, though.
I watched with an amused smile on my face, reflecting the same expression as everyone else, as Emmett shoved against momma's hand, grunting slightly. After a few seconds, momma flexed, and she gained an inch. She laughed and I heard my uncle snarl roughly through his teeth, obviously annoyed that he was losing. Momma smashed his hand into the boulder, a movement almost too fast for me to see- a loud crack as a piece of it fell and crashed to the ground. Daddy and Jacob laughed as the piece hit Emmett's foot.
"Rematch. Tomorrow," my uncle said, and momma replied.
"Maybe you ought to wait a month." Emmett growled in response, repeating, "Tomorrow." He punched the granite rock, shards and powder falling to the ground. I stared in amazement- it was shining, beautiful. Momma dug her hand into the rock, pulling it back, and ended up with a handful of other smaller rocks, gravel.
"Cool," she mumbled, fascinated. I could see almost a glint in her eyes.
Momma suddenly spun and kicked the rest of it to pieces, laughing the entire time. I found this to be funny, and then the laugh finally happened. I laughed, giggled, really. The sound was a bunch of small bells chiming in chords. I continued, amazed with the sound, and amused with momma demolishing a large rock, but stopped, noticing everyone staring at me with a dumbstruck expression.
"Who wasn't laughing?" My Jacob responded.
I noticed everyone was laughing, really, also amused with my mother's game with the rock.
"Bella's supposed to be a grown-up. Married and a mom and all that. Shouldn't there be more dignity?" my Jacob said again. Dignity would take away from the fun? This made me upset. I frowned and touched daddy's face, asking for less of this dignity, if it was going to take this funniness away.
Momma asked what I wanted, and Daddy replied, grinning, "Less dignity. She was having almost as much fun watching you enjoy yourself aw I was."
"Am I funny?" Momma asked me, darting back and reaching for me as I reached for her, taking me out of Daddy's arms and handing me a piece of the rock in her hand. Now that I thought about it, I really did want to try this.
I smiled and took the stone in both of my hands, squeezing as hard as I could- and not succeeding. A bit of dust came off, but nothing else. No shattering, no breaking, nothing. I handed it back up to momma, unsatisfied with this.
"I'll get it," she said, pinching it into sand for me. I clapped for her and laughed, everyone joining in with me.
Suddenly, the sun burst through the gray clouds in the sky, long beams of ruby and gold shooting across all of us. I stared at momma's shining skin, as though tiny diamonds had been placed gently in her pores. I was dazed by the shining of her skin. I stroked the chilled, glittering marble softly and laid my arm next to hers. The same paleness was there, but I only had a faint luminosity to my skin, it was very subtle, not nearly as bright and dazzling. I touched her skin, showing the difference and feeling disgruntled. I wanted to have the same pretty shine.
"You're the prettiest," Momma assured me, smiling lovingly at me. I knew she meant what she had said.
"I'm not sure I can agree to that," Daddy said. My Jacob had his hand in front of his face, shielding his eyes from the brightness. I smiled and giggled, still getting used to the sensation of laughing. "Freaky Bella," he commented.
"What an amazing creature she is," daddy noted.
This was my family. Where I belonged. I loved everyone here dearly, and I would protect them no matter what. My best friend; my Jacob, my parents, and everyone else, too. I loved them all, and I knew they all loved me as well.
I knew I was growing very quickly. I knew that the girl named Leah, a part of my Jacob's wolf pack, didn't like being around us because of our species, our natural rivalry that I had heard about in one of the stories momma told me.
Exactly one week after I was born, I had to speak for the first time, a sentence with perfect articulation, naturally flowing. It wasn't nearly as hard as it was when I was younger. In fact, it was as easy as breathing, but I still preferred using my gift. Momma was a across the room from me, and when I had asked aunt Rosalie where grandpa was, she didn't know the answer. So, I looked at momma and asked her aloud, just how anyone else would.
"Momma, where's Grandpa?" I asked her, my high soprano voice clear and articulate.
Exactly 17 days later, just a little less than three weeks, I had walked for the first time. I was a bit nervous, but knew that if I needed help, everyone would be there to do so. But, I didn't need their help. I knew I could do this on my own, as I had wished to walk for a while now, not that I minded being held, and I wouldn't give up until I could do so. Aunt Alice was arranging stunning bouquets of flowers in intricate vases all over the room, flitting all across the room as she did so. I watched intently for a long moment as she moved to the other end of the room. And, not the least bit shaky, I got to my feet and crossed the floor without even having to try. It was so simple! My Jacob burst into applause, and I wanted that response, really. I knew that his first reflex was to always give me what I needed. He was my big brother, practically, and my best friend in the whole world. Momma clapped quietly, and daddy did, as well. I blushed, turning to smile at them as Alice placed a faded yellow flower in my hair, right above my ear.
I never wore the same clothes twice, either. aunt Rose and aunt Alice always began the day with a slight fashion show, me wearing one or two different outfits and them taking a few pictures. The main reason why I never wore the same clothes twice was because I outgrew them almost that same day. (That, and Alice and Rosalie were putting a baby album together to span years, as opposed to the one month I had been alive. They had taken thousands of pictures already. Which I didn't mind, it was fun, really, it just got a bit boring sometimes, but I did like the attention of it.
I knew I didn't look like a normal toddler, either; I was leaner and more graceful, more adult-like proportions, and my bronze hair now hung down to my waist. I adored my own hair, playing with it, brushing it all the time, even when my mother or aunts offered to for me. I could speak flawlessly already, but I rarely bothered when I could just show what I had to say. Speaking didn't interest me. I could also run and dance, and even read.
Momma had been sitting next to me as I laid in bed, reading Tennyson to me one night. I didn't like repetition or princess books or pictures with very few words even in the books. I liked her poetry books, too. I had wanted to try to read. Well, I knew I could, I'd usually peek and read in my head, the words flowing flawlessly. I reached up, showing momma an image of us, but with me holding the book. She handed me the book without hesitation, of course, smiling. I took it and proceeded to read, just as she did. " 'There is sweet music here,' " I read without any hesitation, the words flowing perfectly, " 'that softer falls than petals from blown roses on the grass, or night-dews on still waters between walls of shadowy granite, in a gleaming pass-' "
Momma took the book back, and I didn't argue or fight, as I never did. "If you read, how will you fall asleep?" she asked softly, but there was something else in her tone I couldn't place.
My rapid growth scared me a bit, too. It didn't take me long to realize that I'd grow so quickly that I wouldn't have a long life. I'd speed on and never stop, until I died, and that thought struck fear in the very pit of my heart. But I didn't want to think about that. I heard grandpa mention travelling somewhere like Brazil to look for answers. Could there be someone else like me?
We had hunted animal blood once I had showed that I was able to run, and I understood that I couldn't live off of human blood, when one, people needed it, and two, the family was vegetarian. It wasn't my favorite, so I usually protested.. until my Jacob always made it fun. I didn't like any food I'd tried at all, especially the cauliflower and lima beans momma had made me once. It tasted like grass and dirt. Animal blood was at least better than that. The thought of challenging Jacob made it fun to hunt.
I danced ahead of them in the clearing, searching the air for a scent that I liked more than the rest. I heard Momma and my Jacob talking about Jacob's pack, but I didn't listen. Once I smelled blood, I tuned out a bit, but I could control it very easily. I froze when I noticed something; snowflakes. They fell from the sky so beautifully, so gracefully, that I instantly loved them. I stared up at them in awe. None stuck to the ground, it all melted before it could. I crouched for an instant and then leaped into the air, searching the air and catching a snowflake in my hands before I dropped lightly to my feet. It was eight-pointed ice star, and I turned smiling at them, showing them the perfect snowflake in my palm before it melted in the warmth.
"Pretty," Jacob called to me, "but I think you're stalling, Nessie." Nessie was my nickname from Jacob. I didn't mind it, it had a cute sound to it. Momma hated it. But I knew it was really the nickname of a European lake monster I'd heard referenced. I ran back to Jacob and jumped into his arms, as we always did when I had something to say; I still preferred using my gift to speak as opposed to actually speaking aloud. I scowled, furrowing my brows, telling him that I wasn't thirsty. I was, but he didn't need to know that. I didn't need to hunt.
"Suuuure you're not thirsty, Nessie," he answered a little sarcastically, a little indulgently, too. "You're just afraid I'll catch the biggest one again!" he laughed, and I leaped out his arms, doing a back flip and landing softly on my feet, rolling my eyes stubbornly. No way! I instantly took the challenge then, darting off into the forest.
"It doesn't count if you cheat!" he shouted after me. I laughed and heard him phase, taking that as my cue, knowing that momma would catch up soon, I took a deep breath, inhaling all of the scents around me. I smelled a nutty, woodsy scent of moss and cinnamon; Jacob trailing behind me, squirrels, plants, rabbits, birds. Then, I caught the scent of two deer. Almost the same exact size, but one still slightly bigger. I instantly zeroed in on the larger one, mine! I'm gonna win!, I thought to myself, knowing that I would win. I chased off after it and, when about 15 feet away from the buck, I crouched, walking slowly towards him. I could hear Jacob's footsteps growing louder as he got closer, and I leaped onto the buck, tackling him to the ground and trying my best to avoid getting blood on me or a rip in my dress- aunt Alice would have a fit- and sunk my teeth into his throat. I heard Jacob leaping onto the other deer- another buck- and tackling it to the ground, killing it quickly. I drank all of my deer's blood as Jacob bit trough his. I let it drop to the ground as Jacob lied next to his kill, just a few feet away from me, grinning a wolfish grin at me. I was still thirsty, but I could get another after I tell Jacob I won. I shouted a victory cry, unable to use my gift to gloat. Jacob laughed, as well as a wolf could. He shook his head and aimed his nose at his deer, as if to challenge my win. I shook my head triumphantly, refusing.
"No! Mine's bigger," I insisted as I heard momma coming through some thorn bushes to the small area where we both stood. Jacob's ears defensively flattened back, as he was crouching forward and baring his teeth, a growl rising in his throat. I was instantly alert as I leaped into momma's arms, placing my curious hand to her cheek, and she replied, "I'm overreacting," reassuring us. "It's okay, I think, hold on." I was impatient as she called my father.
Momma explained on her cell phone to daddy that she had seen someone named Irina, who seemed upset but then took off. She said how bad she felt for upsetting Irina, but I didn't know how she had upset her. "Come, bring Carlisle," she continued. Daddy assured momma by telling her he'd be here in half a minute. We all ran back to the clearing, waiting silently as my Jacob and momma listened carefully for the sound of someone who they didn't know. I saw Grandpa with Daddy following behind, and heard the footsteps of large wolves approaching, also.
Daddy and Carlisle then took off to the area at which Momma had pointed. Momma, Jacob, and I ran back to the house with Seth and Leah flanking us- extra protection. I knew that I still needed more blood, as the slight burn in my throat grew slowly again, and I knew that I would get donated blood to suffice. I smiled slightly at this thought, my thoughts a little bit smug.