"Nessie, we're here." Jacob whispered in my ear. I opened my eyes to find myself lying on his chest in the backseat of the Volvo. How could we possibly be in Massachussetts already? Then again, Dad WAS driving, and he was the fastest driver out of the bunch. I sat up, rubbing my eyes.

"Did you have a good sleep? You've been out for about thirteen-fourteen hours. You slept through half the trip."

"Ha, woops." I shrugged. Jake was so warm, I couldn't make myself get off of him. And, I felt safe with him. It felt like all my worries were gone when I was with him.

I looked out the window. I could barely make out the blurred green, but it looked like we were just getting off of the freeway. Dad's phone rang. He picked it up, and read the caller ID before he opened it.

"Yes, Esme?" I could make out Esme's soft, quiet voice on the other line.

"Where are you now?"

Dad told her where we were so fast that I couldn't make it out.

"OK, get off on the Rutland exit, it should be coming up any second now. We'll see you soon!" Dad closed the phone, and was turning right at a ridiculous speed. Dad's driving absolutely terrified me. Every one of my family member's driving terrified me. As if I'd said it outloud, Jake held me closer. I burried my face in his shirt.

The car started to slow. Jake sat up, but kept me on his lap. We were driving through an enormous suburban neighborhood, the kind that usually only existed in movies. We twisted and turned through the endless streets of houses that all looked the same. Green lawn after green lawn. White picket fence after white picket fence.

"OK, we just turn onto this street here and..." Dad took a wide left turn, onto a street with only one house. It had to be ours, it was so amazingly landscaped, it looked like it came from a fairytale. It didn't belong in this American suburban neighborhood, it belonged in a faraway, magical please. Italy or England would have been a nice fit, in the world of castles and dragons and motes and knights.

It was enormous. The size of two of our old house. It was sided with rough, multi-color brown ones ones. A huge green lawn stretched out in front of us and the driveway was made up of red bricks.

"Oh, my." Mom whispered. Dad sighed happily. Jacob's eyes looked like they were about to fall out of his head. I opened the car door and stepped out into the warm summer air. Mom and Dad both stepped out, wearing gloves, hats and peacoats. I then understood why we had a whole street to ourselves. There weren't as many rainy days in Massachussetts as there were in Washington. We would have to be more careful, even with my discreet glow. Jake came up behind me, putting his hand on the small of my back.

A gesture that should have made me feel uncomfortable and awkward and wrong - considering that Jacob used to change my diapers, chase me around in a tutu and was my best friend from the beginning - made me feel like it was the right thing, like it was natural and meant-to-be.

"Hey, guys!" I turned around to see Emmett sitting on the roof of his Jeep while Rose drove slowly toward us.

"What a place! Probably the biggest one yet!" he exclaimed. He lept off of the moving car, landing right in front of us. Rose kept driving until she reached the enormous ten care garage.

"Carlisle and Esme just called, they said they went to get to know the neighborhood - we've never lived in this part of the country, Ness - and try to find a birthday present for - shit, no one."

Before I could ask any questions, I was hauled onto Jacob's back.
"Jake, what are you doing?" my voice shooting through three octaves. He took me by surprise. He didn't say anything, he only started running towards the house.

"I have something to tell you, Ness."

He set me down on my feet, and took my hand. We walked slowly, towards the back of the house. He stopped me under an enormous willow tree. Its long, feathery branches surrounded us like a shelter. Jake let go of my hand, looking in my eyes. His face was the most serious I'd seen it in my life, a furrowing brow replaced his usual goofy expression and smile.
"Ness, I know these past couple of months have been... confusing for you. And since the day you were born, I've been waiting to tell you something. Your sixteenth birthday is tommorow, and I think it's finally time."

He stopped, probably letting me have time to think. What could all of this mean? A secret he'd been keeping from me since birth? I didn't say anything. He kept his eyes locked on mine.

"Um, I was going to save this for tommorow, but I can't. You need to know, right now."