Chapter Five: "Meeting" (Renesmee's POV)
"Ness," a voice woke me up. "Time to get up, love. Mom's making breakfast."
I groaned and opened an eye. Daddy was at the door, smiling lovingly. "Doc wants us to go to his house in a little while. Come eat."
I smiled at him and nodded, still sleepy. He turned and walked away. After stretching, I walked to the kitchen in my pajamas, stopping out of habit when I reached the door. Sure enough, my parents were at the stove, Mom flipping pancakes, and my dad hugging her from behind. He heard me and squeezed her tightly before letting her go. My parents were very affectionate, but I never found it gross or annoying. They always held hands and my mom sneaked pecks on Daddy's cheek when she thought I wasn't looking. (Of course, Daddy always knew when I was looking.) I really hoped that one day, Jake and I could be just as affectionate and love-y.
Oops. Dad's smile disappeared as soon as that last thought came into my head. Embarrassed, I walked into the kitchen where Mom pulled me into a hug. "'Morning, Nessie," she greeted me. "Pancakes?"
"Sure," I groaned. Human food wasn't my cup of tea. It tasted like mush, nothing like the warm blood of the animals I hunted. But I figured that since Doc--my grandfather, Carlisle--wanted us to come visit, I didn't have time to hunt, which is why Mom cooked breakfast.
She kissed my temple before turning back to the food. I turned to my dad.
"Good morning, Daddy," I said, burying my face in his chest and filling my head with contrite thoughts. He paused, and then his arms wrapped around me. "Good morning, my love," he said. "Did you sleep well?" He leaned down to kiss my forehead.
"Wonderfully," I replied.
"I'm so glad to hear it. By the way, Jacob will be here in a few minutes, so be sure to be dressed and primped or whatever you do."
"Okay," I said. "Is he going to the main house?"
"Yes," my dad said absentmindedly. I wondered what was up.
"Here are your pancakes, Ness," Mom said as she placed a steaming dish on the table. I sat and dribbled a little syrup on them, dreading actually tasting them. A noise in the woods caught my attention.
"I hear Jake," I said. "Be right back."
Unhappy Dad hadn't given me much time to work with, I threw shorts and a tank top on and pulled my frizzy curls back. I knew I looked fine, but I hated looking so casual. Sighing, I brushed my teeth and bounded back into the kitchen.
Jacob's back was to me as he sat in a chair at the table, so I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and kissed his cheek. "Good morning!" I said brightly.
"'Morning, beautiful," Jake replied, smiling at me.
Daddy sighed, but Mom nudged him and mouthed "Be nice." As I sat, I watched them argue in their heads--Mom was doing her shield thing again, and Daddy's thoughts were plain on his face. Finally, he surrendered, nodded, and kissed Mom's lips, and they were happy again.
"Here's some bacon, Nessie," Mom said, putting a huge plate of strips on the table. "I know meat tastes better."
"Thanks," I said gratefully, bypassing the pancakes and going straight for the bacon. It wasn't cooked crispy, just brown enough so it wasn't raw for Jake. He was already tearing into his massive stack of pancakes.
"So why are we going to Doc's?" I asked, sipping water.
"Family meeting," my dad said. "Everyone will be there, including Jacob."
"Why?"
"Lots of stuff, Ness. Don't worry."
"It's cool, Nessie," Jacob said, trying to distract me. "Afterwards, we'll hunt. And then you can drive the Ferrari."
"Sweet," I said. "Speaking of, Daddy, am I going to get a car for my birthday?" Knowing I could melt him easily, I batted my eyelashes and tried to think of my longing for a Jaguar rather than my longing to win him over.
Mom laughed--she saw my strategy. I had learned it from her, after all. But Daddy shrugged. "It depends. Will you actually get a license?"
"Of course. I'm a good driver."
"She is, actually," Jake interrupted.
"We'll talk about it later, Nessie," Daddy said. "Remember, though: you just got a brand-new iPhone."
"From Uncle Jasper. You didn't pay for it."
"I pay the bill," he reminded me.
"True. I'll pay for gas."
"With what money? I give you all your money."
Frustrated, I said, "We'll talk about it later."
Everyone laughed at me. I stared at my plate as I forced down a huge bite of pancake.
A few minutes later, we were all running to my extended family's house. Jake stopped and stared longingly into the open garage door, where Uncle Emmett and Aunt Rosalie were working on a new Jeep. Jake's eyes met his new Ferrari in his parking spot, and he grinned smugly.
"You still can't believe you have one, can you?" I hissed.
"No," he admitted. "My baby…"
Daddy and Mom were inside, so I squeezed his hand in mine. "I thought I was your baby."
"You are my baby," he said, laughing a little. "Well, my main baby. She's my other baby."
"Hey, dog," Aunt Rosalie shouted. "Quit drooling." She flipped her hair and sauntered to her toolbox.
"Like I'm even looking at you!" Jacob shouted back.
Uncle Emmett's laugh boomed. "I'll admit, I'm looking at you, Rose."
"Keep drooling, Em," she replied.
"That's all I'm taking," I told Jake softly, pulling him into the door. He nodded in agreement. Uncle Emmett and Aunt Rose's relationship was very flamboyant, and often their innuendo was sickening.
When we walked into the living room hand-in-hand, everyone immediately ran to greet us like they hadn't seen us in ten years. That was one of the many things I loved about my family--they never grew tired of me, and they were always happy to see me. The greetings were the usual--Doc Carlisle and Grandma Esme's kisses, Aunt Alice's hug and once-over of my outfit, and Uncle Jasper's bear hug rivaled only by Uncle Emmett's. As if on command, Uncle Emmett and Aunt Rosalie joined us in the living room, and they both gave me massive hugs and kisses.
Finally, we all settled as we usually did. Doc and Grandma squeezed together on a loveseat, his arm around her. Jasper sat in the rocking chair with Alice perched on his lap, rocking her softly. Rosalie and Emmett took over the entire couch. And Mom sat in Daddy's lap in the recliner, with him kissing her cheek and whispering in her ear. Jake and I sat together on the floor.
"So what's up?" I asked. Every eye turned to Doc.
He cleared his throat. "I called us all together to discuss a very important issue. You all know I can't work here in Forks any longer--it's been too long."
Fear flooded through me. Please don't make me leave Jake, I begged silently.
"So I've been looking for a new location suitable for our needs, and I found a small town in Alaska. I've also been offered a job at that hospital."
The fear started pulsing, making my heart speed up. Jacob heard the difference, and took my hand.
"I'm not going to force any of you to come with me," Doc went on, "but Esme and I will be moving there very shortly."
"Dude, of course we're coming," Uncle Emmett piped up. "The hunting in Alaska rocks."
"Who are you telling," Jasper replied, stretching out a fist to Emmett. "Polar bears."
Emmett guffawed, let out a whoop, and bumped his fist.
"Sure," Alice shrugged. "Whatever. I'm tiring of Forks, anyway."
I glanced frantically at my parents. Surely they wouldn't make me leave Jacob…
"Of course we're coming," Mom and Dad said at the same time.
Finally, I had enough.
"What about Jacob?" I shrieked.
He squeezed my hand as Dad began to talk. "Of course Jacob can come, if he wants to."
I looked even more frantically to Jake and raised my eyebrows.
"Of course I'll come," he said. "What else did you expect, Nessie?"
My heart thudded in relief as I kissed his cheek. "Thank you!"
"So you're fine with leaving Grandpa Charlie?" Mom asked.
I shrugged. "I don't want to, but I can come visit."
"Excellent," Doc interceded. "Of course we'll visit, Nessie. Jacob has his pack."
My feeling of happiness faded. "Oh, Jacob. You can't leave your pack."
Jacob snorted. "It's hardly a pack anymore, Nessie. Sam is busy with Emily and little Aidan. Leah isn't even phasing anymore so she can be with Evan naturally. The rest only phase to play around. I won't miss anything. We can definitely come visit."
"You're sure?"
"Sure, sure." He smiled genuinely.
"Thank you!" I said again and hugged him.
"So when are we leaving?" Aunt Alice asked. "I need to know so I can shop for colder weather."
"I take the job in a week," Doc said. "You're welcome to move anytime you want. Esme and I are going to find a house tomorrow."
"A fixer-upper, of course," Grandma smiled excitedly. "I'll finally have a project besides redecorating."
Grandma used to work in Forks as an architect, designing houses, but she quit when people started getting suspicious of her never-aging face. I could tell she was excited to have a fresh chance to renovate.
"It sounds so exciting," Mom broke in. "A fresh start. And we could go to school."
"School?" I asked excitedly. "Really?"
"Of course," Daddy replied. "You and Jacob both could."
"I want to go to school, Jazz," Aunt Alice said to her love, unleashing the full force of her eyes on him.
Uncle Jasper shrugged. "Okay."
Aunt Alice clapped her hands together in glee. "Winter clothes and school clothes!"
"Ooh, good point," Aunt Rosalie admitted. "Emmett, let's go to school, too."
Uncle Emmett's eyes turned mischievous. "Late night tutoring sessions?"
"Okay!" Daddy broke in. "Turn your thoughts elsewhere. I really don't want to hear that. So when are we planning to go up there, everyone?"
"I'm up for anything," Mom shrugged.
"Man, ASAP," Uncle Emmett said. "We went up there this weekend and the grub is great. I'm definitely craving some more bears."
"You could come with us, Emmett," Grandma told him. "All of you could."
"Hmm," Mom replied. "I really need some more time to, you know, pack and say goodbyes. Edward and Nessie can go, though."
"No, Mom, I'll stay with you," I disagreed. "I want to hang out with Grandpa and Grandma Sue and Seth and Leah."
"Where Nessie goes, I go," Jacob said.
"I want to hunt," Uncle Jasper admitted. Emmett reached over to bump knuckles with him. "Hunting it is," Uncle Emmett announced.
"I need to pack," disagreed Aunt Rosalie.
"Well, what if the women stay and pack, and the guys--and Esme--go back to Alaska?" Uncle Emmett proposed.
Daddy groaned. "We just got back." His fingers stroked my mom's knee.
"It's only for a day or two," scowled Uncle Emmett. "Man up."
"Seriously, Edward," Mom argued. "We're just going to be going through closets and stuff. You need to find us four a house--"
"Four?" everyone said.
"Jacob will be living with us, of course," Mom continued, rolling her eyes. "And you can enroll Nessie and Jake in school, if Jake wants to go to school, and everything else you'll need to do. Just a day or two."
"Fine," Daddy sighed.
Aunt Alice clapped her hands again. "I'm so excited!"
"It's settled, then," Doc nodded and glanced at his watch. "Oh! I have to go to work. Keep planning, my love." He kissed Grandma's hair and face. "I will see all of you later tonight." He searched his pockets for his car keys and exited the house.
"Sweetness," I said, leaping to my feet. "Is that all?"
"I suppose so," Daddy replied. "You need to decide what you'll be taking and what you'll be leaving. We won't sell the house."
"Good. Want to help me pack, Jake?" I extended a hand to pull him up.
"Not in your room," Daddy said softly but sternly.
Mom scowled. "It's fine if Jacob helps you pack your room." She gave Daddy the evil eye.
I shrugged. "Okay." Jake and I started to leave the room, but I was quickly deterred by the fact that I was floating high into the air. Looking down, I realized that I was now in Uncle Emmett's grip. He gave Jacob a most menacing glare and then tossed me onto the couch.