Renesmee
It was dark when I finally came back from hunting with Seth. Jacob was asleep on the couch. I went to the bedroom. Jake had knocked the wall separating his room from Billy's old room down, making one large room. We bought a bigger bed to fill the space, it was quite luxurious. I had been very neat when I was hunting. I learned the hard way what it was like not to have Alice around to make me new clothes every day. My wardrobe had sadly dwindled. I changed into one of my satin night-gowns; I had plenty of nightwear, and slipped into bed.
I must have been more exhausted than I thought. I woke up to light streaming right into my face. The door downstairs banged open and shut. I heard the refrigerator open and someone rustling around in it. It banged shut and the footsteps came up the stairs. Jake was in the door, cold pizza in hand. "Good morning sleepy head." He sat on the edge of the bed but I didn't move. I looked at the cold pizza in revulsion. Couldn't he at least heat it up? He took one look at my face and smirked. He stuffed the rest of it in his mouth and swallowed it practically whole. "Well come on, get up, we have to pack."
"What are you talking about? We're not leaving for five more days and neither of us have much to pack." I was annoyed that I was stating the obvious. He ripped the covers off me and kissed my forehead.
"Chill Ness." He grabbed a suitcase from the closet and started jamming my clothes in it.
"Stop! You're going to ruin them!" I was out of bed in a flash and tried to rescue my wrinkled clothes. I didn't have my mother's aversion to new things or clothes in general. I liked clothes and I loved helping Alice design new things. Jacob grinned at me but didn't continue torturing the fabric. He got another suitcase and stuffed it with his pants and a few shirts. I pursed my lips but otherwise allowed him to ruin his own clothes. "Are you going to tell me what's going on?"
Jake shrugged, "We're leaving early."
"They're still in school. Did you talk to my dad?"
"Nope, we're going to surprise them." This was so typically Jacob I had to laugh. He grinned at me, a lopsided, wolfish grin. "I talked to the pack this morning. They're going to run under Leah until I get back. Seth wanted to come too but I told him to stay with Marie and Leah."
"He could come, Marie too." I said though I knew this wasn't completely accurate.
"You know Marie can't come. She's never met the bloodsuckers and I don't think going into their house is going to make her very comfortable."
I stared at him, not moving an inch until he looked at me. "Do. Not. Call. Them. That." I said through gritted teeth.
"Sorry, Ness, it's habit. You know I don't mean anything by it." He looked sorry and I immediately felt bad for being unnecessarily angry with him. The truth was, though, that he had lost the habit when he was away from the pack. It resurfaced when we came back. It made me sad that the others thought of my family like that. I sighed and told him it was fine. He suddenly swept me off the floor and threw me on the bed. "Be happy Ness." He kissed my forehead, nose and lips. I was happy. Sometimes I just had to be reminded.
We said goodbye to Sam and Emily and their kids a few hours later. Seth stopped in to say goodbye and asked again, half joking, if he could come.
"Tell Edward and Bella I say hi. And Alice too! Oh, and Esme and Carlisle. Just say hi to all of them, I don't want anyone to feel left out." I laughed as he waggled his eyebrows. Marie stood a bit further back and Seth tried to nudge her forward. She didn't look scared even though she must have just found out I was half vampire. I smiled at her and she smiled back and waved but didn't move toward me. That was fine. Quil and Embry accompanied us to the airport. It was quicker to fly. They would drive Jake's pickup back to the Reservation.
It was relatively quiet, almost uncomfortable on the way there. I got the feeling that things were being left unsaid. Did Jake have a fight with them, is that why we're leaving so soon? When we finally arrived at the airport, was it really only thirty minutes?, Jake barely said goodbye to them. I let him have his silence for now but when we got on the plane, there was no where he could hide.
"What's going on?" He had the window seat on account of his abnormally long legs and arms that would stick out in the aisle. He looked at me unsurprised that I had noticed the tension. A complete stranger would've been able to sense something was wrong.
"It's nothing love. Just a disagreement. Pack stuff." There it was again. Pack stuff. As in "that doesn't include you because you're half vampire." Sure it includes Emily and Marie and Claire and all the others just not me. Not the half breed. I felt tears come to my eyes. What was the matter with me? I looked off into the aisle and regretted it. An older woman was looking at me. She saw my tears and immediately looked at Jake. Her sharp eyes darted back and forth between us. Jake made the mistake of finally looking over.
"You should be ashamed of yourself, making a pretty little thing like her cry!" She was hissing at Jake who looked utterly confused until he looked at me. The younger woman beside the accusing one hushed at her and told her to mind her own business. Jake seemed like he was thinking, probably going over what he said to make me cry. I barely knew myself.
"Ness, you know I didn't mean it like that. You're always welcome, they all love you, you know that. They always have. David fancies himself in love with you." He growled as he said that last part. David was the youngest of the pack. He ran with Sam and was one of the few who haven't imprinted yet. "You see, remember how I put Leah in charge instead of giving command to Sam?" I nodded. "Sam got offended, thought I didn't trust him or something all of a sudden." He said this like the very thought was absurd. He shrugged. "Quil and Embry got into it with Jared and Paul because of course they all know that Sam feels betrayed. It blew up, ridiculous! Quil and Embry are just upset because I had to use the Alpha command on them to make them stop fighting. Sam was in human form at the time so he had no idea." He looked exasperated but also a little guilty.
"You had no choice, right? You don't want to encourage pack hostility."
"Exactly! Why can't they be as reasonable as you?" He kissed me.
"I like when you tell me about the pack. Sometimes I feel like I don't belong." I shrugged and he looked concerned.
"Can you show me?" I was surprised by this request. Show him what? The episode at Sam's? The car ride? My frustration with cooking? Emily's kids? He was there for all that. I realized then that he wasn't really. When was the last time I shared my stories? He didn't know how I saw them. Why was I so frustrated with him? I was the one who was holding back. He looked at me with a strange sorrow in his eyes. I had to erase his sorrow. Maybe I would erase mine in the process. I took a deep breath and called back those memories of being alone. I took his hand.
I showed him all of those things and more. I showed him our wedding again. How he looked, looming over the majority of the crowd, the look in his eyes, his silly grin, his bouncing enthusiasm and loving kiss. I showed him our honeymoon in Disney World. I showed him the conversation I had with my mom and how I wanted to cry to her about wanting a child but too ashamed to confess that to her. I showed him the talk I had with my dad right before they left for Vermont. He would miss me so much, he knew I would be happy but he was always there for me. I knew he was right and I had cried. I showed him the conversation on the phone just a few days ago when he told me again that he missed me and I had cried to him again that I missed them all so much. I made him promise not to tell mom I cried. He was worried. I showed Jake how much I loved him and how happy he made me but how sad I've been. I showed him memories of when I was just a girl and how I loved him even then.
And then I went on to smaller moments. I showed him the hunt I had with Seth and how kind he was and how he made me laugh when he talked about his unwillingness to marry. I didn't think he would be shaken on that. I showed him the way her devoured that cold pizza and how it made me feel sick. I showed him how I've been really tired lately. I showed him how much I loved our new room and what happened in it. I showed him how much I loved the little house and the reservation and everyone on it.
He took his hand away from mine quickly to stop the visions. Before I could ask what was wrong he was kissing me with such enthusiasm I almost laughed. I looked at him with quizzical eyes. He held out my cell phone. Sure enough it began to buzz. It sat there buzzing, I couldn't answer it. Tears were brimming over my eyes but for a different reason this time. The buzzing stopped and then began again. Jacob still held it out for me. I shook my head at him and he smiled and put it away. I would call them when I was done celebrating with my husband.
The flight was too short. We didn't talk at all. I just held his hand and showed him how I felt. I decided not to call my mom back with the news I was sure Alice had told her. I felt a little begrudged at that but I let it go. It didn't matter how she or my dad found out. Hopefully Alice wouldn't give away our surprise early arrival. I stopped then and decided to take precautionary measure. I took out a piece of paper and pen from my handbag and wrote:
Alice I swear to God if you tell them we're coming early, I will set fire to your clothes
She would certainly see that. I just hoped they were as happy as I was.