Chapter 24 – Jumping to Conclusions

Rachel POV

A/N: This will be the only chapter in anyone else's POV. Sorry, I know some of you really aren't interested in anyone else's POV, but I feel pretty good about it.

Ever since I had heard that Jacob would be bringing home his imprint – who just so happened to be the child of Bella and Edward Cullen, the pair responsible for my baby brother's misery for the last several years – my emotions had been highly conflicted. On one hand, I was happy that Jacob was no longer the morose shell of a man he'd been for the last seven years, but on the other, did it have to be a Cullen?

I knew that the imprint made Jacob blind to any faults she may have, so the fact that he absolutely adored her meant little to me. I would form my own opinions of the Cullen girl. Being an imprint myself, I was able to look at things subjectively, ignore the obvious affection they may share and see things for what they really were…or weren't.

Ultimately, I knew my opinions wouldn't matter to anyone but myself and perhaps a few of the other imprinted girls. If I thought she was a worthless slut, it wouldn't make Jacob love her any less.

I watched from the front door as Jacob appeared to reassure her. She looked nervous as hell. Good. Maybe I was being overly-critical, but seeing my brother go through so much pain made me even more protective of him than I had been by nature. Imprint or not, any woman who walked into his life would be under my scrutinizing microscope.

She was beautiful, of course. Her clothes looked expensive but not showy. She walked with poise and confidence. Her smile was what caught my attention the most, though. It looked so genuine and heartfelt, like her innermost feelings were reflected outwardly through her expression.

I sort of felt like a bitch. She wasn't at all what I'd envisioned, and I was ready to hang her for someone else's mistakes before so much as giving her a chance. With my resentment for her parents tucked away, I smiled back at her.

"Jacob!" I called as he approached.

"Hey Rach," he replied, hugging me tightly. "Good to see ya, Dad." He proceeded to lean down and hug him as well. This was the most animated I'd seen Jacob in so long. If I was happy before, I was absolutely ecstatic for him now.

Renesmee shyly stood slightly behind his large frame, watching our warm exchange. Jacob twisted his arm around her thin waist and pulled her closer to us on the small porch.

"Dad, Rachel, this is my Ness," he said with a huge smile plastered across his face, gazing at his imprint with palpable love.

She leaned forward and hugged my father. "It's so good to meet you guys," she said earnestly.

There was an awkward second where she stood appraising me, trying to decide whether a handshake or hug would be more appropriate. I did her a favor and closed the space between us, hugging her shoulders lightly. She was warm, like the wolves. I'd expected her to be icy cold.

The four of us squeezed into the living room and conversed over some snacks I'd brought over for the occasion. I recalled snidely wondering if I should have Paul fetch me a fresh elk to go with the chips and chicken bites.

"Where are you guys staying? The resort?" I asked. I couldn't imagine Jacob mingling with the well-to-do's at the fairly new golf resort by the waterfront, the council's attempt to bring revenue and jobs to the reservation. At least it wasn't a casino.

"Naah, we're camping," Jake replied casually.

Princess Cullen camps?

I couldn't hide the look of surprise that crossed my face. Renesmee didn't notice. She was focused on my father who was giving his speech on the economic growth in the reservation since the resort was opened eighteen months ago. But Jacob noticed. He glared at me and mouthed, Be nice.

It was impossible to miss the connection between the pair. The way they looked at each other was sickening yet endearing. Every glance was a silent profession of love and was equally matched with a smile of adoration.

Paul and I used to be like that; back before children, jobs, and bills.

Renesmee seemed like a decent enough person for my little – albeit mammoth – brother. She was respectful toward my father, which was very important to me. She listened to us chat with discernible interest. She wasn't snobby like I thought she'd be. There was a balance between the couple's personalities, like they were an equal match for one another. All and all, she'd thus far proven herself worthy of my approval…as if it mattered either way.

We parted ways after an hour or so. They had to get their campsite set up while it wasn't raining and I had to finish getting things ready at home for the cookout later. Everyone was coming to meet Renesmee and Hannah, Embry's new imprint. At first I worried that the whole debacle would further inflate Princess Cullen's ego, but as it turned out, she was fairly modest, a word I never thought I'd use in reference to a Cullen.

My five year old twins, Lauren and PJ, were eager to meet Renesmee. They knew all about our legends – the PG version, at least – and were thrilled to actually get to meet a real vampire, even if she was only half. PJ futilely hoped Renesmee's presence would provoke him to phase like his daddy did, while Lauren wanted to catch a glimpse of sparkling skin, and according to Jacob, that wouldn't happen either.

Jacob and Renesmee arrived before anyone else, with my father in tow. I tried not to notice how her hair wasn't quite as perfect as it was earlier or how her clothes were slightly rumpled from doing who-knows-what in the forest. Eeew. We smiled politely at each other and I wrinkled my nose in disgust at Jacob once Renesmee had her back turned.

"Can I help with anything?" she asked eagerly.

Just then, PJ and Lauren came barreling down the stairs shrieking with excitement.

"Uncle Jake! Uncle Jake! Is this your vampire girlfriend?" Lauren squealed.

PJ stood in silence, staring at her admirably. He tugged Jacob's shirt and he leaned down so that PJ could whisper in his ear. "She's pretty," he said, his loud whisper doing absolutely nothing to conceal his awe.

Renesmee beamed, gazing at both my darlings with a sparkle in her eye.

"Paul Junior, Lauren, meet my Ness," Jacob said with a grand gesture to his imprint.

"Hi Ness! I'm Lauren!" my little angel said eagerly.

PJ stared in awe. "And who's this handsome guy?" Renesmee asked.

My son stood tall and extended a hand. "I'm Paul Junior. It's nice to meet you, Ness."

Renesmee leaned down and hugged both children.

She never got to help me with anything. Lauren and PJ were practically glued to her. I watched out the kitchen window as she dazzled them with her vampiric talents in the back yard. You'd never know she was an only child or that she'd never been around children before – a couple of pieces of information I pried from Jacob when he took a bathroom break. It looked like second nature to her. She ran around the lawn at full speed with them on her back like it was something she'd done hundreds of times.

Emily – my best friend – and I chatted in the kitchen while we finished cooking the food. Her children had joined the merriment with Sam guarding nearby. He wasn't as trusting of her as some of us, claiming that "a leech is a leech." I didn't know her well enough to form my own level of trust, but I did trust my brother, and he said that there was absolutely nothing to worry about. I couldn't blame Sam for being on alert, though.

I called for everyone to come serve themselves. PJ was the first to come flying up the stairs of our deck dragging his "new girlfriend" along with him. The events that transpired came in slow motion. He tripped over his own feet, his knee landing on a damn nail that stuck out from the wood. Renesmee scooped his screaming body up at once, blood running down his leg.

Blood.

Oh shit.

Sam peeled PJ from her nurturing arms immediately, rushing him to the other side of the yard. Renesmee sat on the steps frozen in shock, tears streaming down her face, her body trembling.

I ran out the back door to PJ's side, examining the wound. It wasn't deep enough to merit another trip to the hospital.

"I wasn't going to hurt him," Renesmee murmured. I turned around briefly to see her sitting on the stairs with her face buried in Jacob's shoulder. "I was just trying to help."

It broke my heart into a thousand pieces to see how hurt she was. Sam thought she was going for the kill and she knew it. I briefly thought the same thing until I saw her consoling him for the split second he was in her arms.

But was it wrong for us to jump to this conclusion? She was half-vampire. It was in her nature to thirst for blood, even if it was marginal in comparison to a full vampire.

"They didn't know, Ness. It's okay. They know now. It won't happen again, I promise," Jacob murmured.

He was right. I would make damn sure that no one came to that conclusion again. I just hated that it had taken an incident like this to prove to everyone that she was no harm to us or our children.

Once the kids were in bed – they were accustomed to big sleepovers like this – and Billy was taken home, it was time for the real party to begin. Paul and Jacob went down to the basement to round up the booze. I had already briefly apologized to Renesmee for what had happened earlier, but I felt like it wasn't enough.

I took a seat beside her on a bench out back. "I just want to say I'm sorry again. About earlier. No one meant to hurt your feelings," I said quietly, wishing we had a bit more privacy.

Her eyes widened. "No, it's okay. Really. I can't blame you guys at all. You don't know anything about me or my...thirst," she said shamefully.

"I admit, I do drink blood, but only because it's what sustains me. The only time I've had…you know…the good stuff is when my grandfather provided me with donated blood, and that was only when I was an infant and just recently I had a little bit he was giving to my friend, Kimber. She's pregnant with a halfsie like me so she needs it. Other than that, the occasional bear or deer is all I require. I don't crave it like my family does, thank God."

"Well I still feel like a shit for jumping to conclusions. It's one thing for Sam to be over-protective, but I should have put more trust in you," I said sincerely.

"I'm kicking your ass this time, Brady," Seth said as the two rushed by us, carrying the Beer Pong table and a stack of plastic cups. Great, it's going to be one of those nights.

Jacob wiggled his large form between the two of us, wrapping an arm around both our shoulders. "I just love seeing my two favorite women getting along so well," he said contently, "but it's time for all this heart-to-heart shit to come to a close. There's liquor to be had."

I'd never seen my baby brother drunk before. I was pretty sure the only person who had was Embry. This should be fun.

A/N:

Back to Jacob/Renesmee POVs after this. I don't have any other varying POV chapters planned.

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