Without further adieu, here's another chapter of Birthday Surprise.
Esme smiled.
"This is Renesmee," she said.
"Ummm," Emmett said, "does she have any nicknames? Because that's kind of a mouthful."
"'Course I do, Uncle Emmett. It's Nessie," Nessie explained.
"You see? That's much better," Emmett said.
He then caught what Nessie had called him.
"By the way, Nessie, why do you keep calling me your uncle? I'm pretty sure any nieces I'd have would be older than you," he wondered.
"She is your niece, Emmett," Esme said, "and yours, too, Rosalie."
"She's my niece, too?" Rosalie asked in confusion.
"Yes, dear," Esme said.
"But, how?" Rosalie asked, "As Emmett said before, Nessie here is too young to be his niece. It's the same with me, same with Alice, and same with Jasper. And Edward and Bella are only children," she trailed off before gasping.
Esme nodded. Rosalie was shocked.
"But, how?" she asked again, "Vampires can't have children."
"We can't have children, Rosalie," Esme explained, "But that doesn't mean Edward can't have a child with Bella."
"When could they have had her?" Rosalie asked, "She's too old. Bella and Edward haven't even known each other for a year."
Esme smiled.
"That's true. But, who said Nessie was born in this era?" she asked.
Then, her smile went down.
"You know, come to think of it, Nessie, you never actually told me when you were born," she noted.
"September 11th of next year, a month after Mommy and Daddy got married," Nessie explained.
"Hmmm," Esme pondered.
If she really ages quickly, she probably developed quickly too, she thought.
"Wait," Emmett spoke, "You're from the future!?"
Nessie smiled.
"Yup," she said simply.
"Awesome!" Emmett cried out.
Still holding Nessie, he spun her around. This caused her peculiar scent to be sent around the room.
"It's you," Rosalie said as she sniffed the air, "You're the odd thing we smelled."
"That's right, Rosalie," Esme confirmed, "I smelled it too."
"If you don't mind my asking, what is she?" Rosalie asked.
"Half-human, half-vampire," Esme explained, "A hybrid of sorts. Nessie is one special little girl."
"I see. That explains the smell," Rosalie said.
"Indeed," Esme replied.
"You okay, Nessie?" Emmett asked.
Esme and Rosalie looked to see him putting his hand on Nessie's forehead. Esme and Nessie giggled at this.
"I'm fine, Uncle Emmett. Really," Nessie said.
"What's wrong, Emmett?" Rosalie asked.
"Hold her for a minute, Rose," Emmett said.
Nessie was passed into Rosalie's arms and Rosalie immediately noticed how warm Nessie's body was.
"Oh," was all she said.
Esme giggled again.
"It surprised me too," she said, "It's one of the things that make Nessie special. I'd explain, but I'd rather wait until everyone gets here so I don't have to repeat myself."
Rosalie and Emmett nodded and decided to wait. All three sat on the couch, with Nessie in Rosalie's lap. Rosalie started playing with Nessie's hair.
"You know, I still don't get it," she said.
"Get what, Rose?" Emmett asked.
"I thought Bella wanted to be a vampire more than anything else, children included. And, yet, here Nessie sits," Rosalie answered.
"I was kind of an accident. Mommy and Daddy weren't expecting to have me," Nessie explained.
"That's what I figured," Esme said, "No doubt Edward and Bella were still under the impression that vampires couldn't have children, period."
"That's because we can't," interrupted a voice.
The three and a half vampires turned to see Carlisle walking in with Jasper not far behind him.
"Oh," Esme said as she got up to greet her husband, "You're back. How was your hunting trip?"
"It went well. Jasper should be fine when Bella gets here," Carlisle said.
"Why wouldn't he be, Grandpa?" Nessie asked.
Carlisle looked at her, startled.
"Who's this, Esme?" he asked.
"This," she said, "is Renesmee Cullen. She's our granddaughter."
Carlisle looked at Renesmee again, this time with fear. Esme frowned at this. Of course, he would come to that conclusion.
"She's not an immortal child, Carlisle. She's only half-vampire," Esme clarified.
"What?" Carlisle asked in shock.
"Those legends you told me about are true, Carlisle. Hybrids do exist," Esme replied.
"Then, how come I've never seen any?" Carlisle asked.
"Well, according to Nessie, there aren't that many of them. There's at least one living in South America right now," Esme explained.
"Wait. You mean Nessie's not the only one?" Rosalie asked.
"Um… Sorry to interrupt, but who is 'Nessie'?" Carlisle asked.
"Oh, that's Renesmee's nickname," Esme explained, "As for your question, Rose, yes, there are others. Nessie can show you with her gift if you want."
"Gift?" Carlisle asked, intrigued.
"Oh yes. She can show people her thoughts and memories," Esme explained.
"That makes sense, I guess," Rosalie said.
"Why do you say that, Rose?" Jasper asked.
"Apparently, a year from now, Edward finally gives in and knocks up Bella, causing this little monster to be born," Emmett said with a chuckle in his usual blunt manner.
"Emmett!" Esme scolded.
If she could blush, she would have at that moment. Carlisle and Jasper, meanwhile, were shocked. Carlisle recovered first because he just grew even more fascinated with Renesmee.
"You know, now that I look at her, I can see the resemblance. But, wait, if the legends are true, then poor Nessie is without her mother," Carlisle concluded as he looked down sadly.
Rosalie gasped.
"Oh my God. It's okay, Nessie. I'm here," Rosalie said, prepared to comfort Nessie, hugging her tightly.
Esme smiled.
"While it is nice to see that you care for Nessie already, Rose, she doesn't need comforting because she isn't motherless," Esme said.
"What?" Carlisle asked, surprised.
"Nessie can show you what I mean, can't you dear? Oh, but show me too please," Esme asked.
"Okay, Grandma," Nessie said.
She then lifted her hand to Rosalie's cheek. Rosalie gasped as she was hit with an image of a woman she recognized as Bella. Only Bella was a newborn vampire. The image abruptly vanished as Jasper yanked Nessie out of Rosalie's arms, dangling the half-vampire child by the collar of her shirt.
"Whoa! Chill, Jasper! I'm sure Nessie wasn't doing anything to hurt Rose!" Emmett yelled.
"He's right, Jasper! It's okay! I'm fine!" Rosalie agreed.
Jasper sighed.
"I'm sorry, Nessie. I have trouble trusting people I don't know and when I saw Rose freeze like that, I panicked," he said in apology.
"It's all right, Major, ah understand," Nessie said in a Southern accent.
This actually made Jasper laugh.
"Well, you're something, little lady!" Jasper said.
Carlisle chuckled.
"This little girl is going to have us wrapped around her little finger, if she hasn't already," he said.
"Um, Uncle Jazzy, could you please put me down now?" Nessie asked.
"Oh, yes, of course, Nessie," Jasper replied as he put her down.
"Now, why don't you show Bella to the rest of us, sweetie?" Esme suggested.
Nessie did just that. All were in awe of Bella's beauty as a vampire. Jasper seemed bothered though.
"What's wrong, Jasper?" Esme asked.
"It's just that the amount of self-control Bella has for a newborn is kind of scary," Jasper explained.
"I see your point, Jasper. It is rather unusual. Though, we know that Bella doesn't like the smell of blood. Perhaps her remarkable self-control has something to do with that. I don't really know, though," Carlisle said.
"You know what?" Esme asked. "If Bella is this controlled as a newborn, then maybe Edward will stop fighting against her change."
"He'll probably still argue, though," Carlisle sighed, "Don't forget, he still thinks himself a soulless monster, even though the proof that he isn't is right next to him a good portion of the day."
"That's true," Esme said sadly.
Nessie looked down in sadness. Esme noticed.
"What's wrong, sweetie?" Esme asked.
"What Grandpa said reminded of when I was still in Mommy's womb," Nessie explained.
Everyone was surprised.
"You mean you can remember that far back?" Carlisle asked.
"Yes, Grandpa," Nessie said.
"Amazing," Carlisle muttered.
He shook his head.
"Anyway, what did I say that reminded you of that time?" he asked.
"That Daddy thinks himself a soulless monster," Nessie explained, "He couldn't hear my thoughts at the time, so he didn't think that I was a creature capable of love, since I was killing Mommy from the inside out. He hated himself for putting Mommy through the painful pregnancy. He even wanted me aborted, if only to save Mommy's life," she continued, shedding a tear or two at this point.
Needless to say, this shocked everyone.
"What?!" Rosalie shouted in disbelief.
Esme was speechless. However, she went to Nessie and wiped her tears away and then hugged her.
"It's all right, dear," Esme said, "Don't cry. He loves you now, doesn't he?"
"Yes, he does. But it still hurts that he ever thought me a monster. I didn't even mean to hurt Mommy. It just happened," Nessie said.
"Shhh, it's okay. We understand," Esme said soothingly.
Jasper helped calm Nessie down with his gift. Esme picked her up and sat down on the couch with Nessie on her lap.
"I apologize, Nessie, but I must ask. What kind of damage did you do to your mother?" Carlisle asked.
Nessie sighed.
"I broke some of her ribs, broke her spine, bruised her body, even drank some of her blood, both inside and outside the womb," she explained.
Everyone cringed upon hearing this. Nessie then put a hand to her throat.
"What's wrong, Nessie?" Esme asked.
"Thinking about Mommy's blood made me thirsty," Nessie explained.
"You truly are part-vampire," Carlisle said, "You'd better hunt if you want to be around Bella."
"Have you ever hunted before, Nessie?" Esme asked.
"Yes, Grandma," Nessie answered, "I know what to do."
"I'll go with her and make sure she doesn't get lost," Jasper said.
"All right, then. You two be off, now," Carlisle said.
With that, Nessie and Jasper ran out the door and into the woods. Rosalie and Emmett got up.
"We better freshen up for the party," Rosalie said.
She and Emmett went upstairs to do just that. Esme turned to Carlisle and sighed.
"I hope Nessie will be enough to convince Edward that he's not a monster," she said to him.
"One can only hope, my dear," Carlisle sighed.