Jacksonville
It was a few weeks after New Years. Alice wasn't too pleased to see me come home wearing a Slipknot shirt. It wasn't lady like was how she put it. I'd only smiled at her and said that I still liked it. Daddy only chuckled lightly. Now I wore the shirt whenever I was helping Jacob with his car. I was learning a lot about car maintenance thanks to him and Rosalie. I mostly worked on cars with Jacob though. He was teaching me about the new engine of his car and how it worked and its pros and cons.
"Hey, Jacob?" I interrupted him while he was explaining the car's fuel efficiency. He looked at me from the engine.
"Yeah?"
"Will you teach me how to drive? When I'm old enough I mean." Jacob smiled widely then chuckled. He nudged my cheek gently with his grease covered knuckles. I didn't mind in the least.
"Sure, Nessie. I'll teach you how to drive." His face became more excited. "I'll even teach you how to drive a motorcycle and a stick." The last thing confused me.
"A stick?" Jacob chuckled.
"A stick shift car. Alice's Porsche is a stick shift for example. Quil's car is a stick shift. It's not nearly as fast as the Porsche, but it's a good car to learn in. Quil's going to teach Claire how to drive that car when she's old enough." I smiled at him.
"I think you'll have to fight with Alice for the honor of teaching me to drive a stick." Jacob laughed with me.
"I'm not saying I'll be the only one teaching you how to drive. Believe me, you'll have more driving teachers then any teenager would ever want." We laughed harder. I nodded my head.
"I do at least have the benefit of having teachers that are indestructible." Jacob nodded with a big smirk on his face.
"Yeah. If you crash, no big deal, they won't die." I smacked his arm teasingly. He just laughed and rubbed the spot where I had smacked him. We went over the car's engine a few more times before daddy called asking me to come home.
"Daddy wants me to come home." I said to Jacob as I closed my phone. Jacob looked sad.
"Already? You've only been here two hours." I nodded my head.
"He said that he and momma wanted to talk to me about something. They wanted to talk to you too." Jacob looked confused.
"Why? Did I do something?" I shrugged.
"I don't think so. Daddy didn't sound angry or anything. Maybe something just happened." I became concerned then. "What could have happened that they need to call me to come back home?" Jacob rubbed my back gently.
"I'm sure it's nothing to worry about, Nessie. Let's just get going and see what it is that Edward wants to talk to you about, Okay." I nodded my head. Jacob locked up the 2007 rabbit and told me to wait next to his other car for him to go get his car keys. He came back after a few seconds and unlocked the car. We drove back to the house in silence. Jacob had his radio on soft, but that was about it.
When we got to the house, Jacob and I got out of the car and let ourselves into the house. When we came in, no one looked scarred or shocked or even angry. They looked like they normally did. Daddy and momma turned to look at me, and they were smiling pleasantly. I wondered if there was a problem. Daddy answered my thoughts.
"Don't worry, honey, there isn't a problem. Your momma and I actually have a present for you." A present?
"What is it?" Momma seemed to smile wider. She was the one to answer me.
"Well, I got a call from your grandma in Jacksonville, and she's invited you to go down there and visit her." My eyes lit up. This was unexpected.
"Really?" They both nodded. Momma continued.
"I told her that I wouldn't be able to go, but I said that you would be more than happy to go down there and visit her. She's been dying to meet you ever since she heard about you. Phil is still in Pennsylvania visiting his mom, so she wanted you to come down there." I was smiling, and I noticed that Jacob had a relieved smile on his face.
"That's great momma. When am I leaving?"
"Your flight leaves tomorrow. None of us were comfortable with you going alone though." Momma looked at Jacob. "Would you mind going with her? None of us would be able to go with her. With the sun and all. And it was hard enough for Edward to stay discreet when he was down there last and my mom is undoubtedly going to want to take her beach walking. What do you say?" Jacob shrugged.
"I'd love to, but I don't have the money to." Momma rolled her eyes.
"We already bought the ticket, Jacob. You don't have to pay for anything. And you won't even need to stay in a hotel. Renee will provide you with everything that you need." Jacob chuckled.
"I'm glad you trust me so much, Bells, but I'm not sure how keen your mom will be with some random guy she doesn't know staying at her house." I giggled and so did momma.
"Don't worry about it Jacob, Renee knows that I would never leave Renesmee in the hands of someone I don't trust. Besides, Renee knows you to an extent." Jacob looked confused.
"How? I've never met your mom." Momma laughed again. Daddy laughed too. Evidently, momma had lifted her shield and was letting daddy in on the joke before going on.
"Yes you have. It was years ago, but you've met her." Jacob's face didn't change.
"How?" Momma laughed lightly again.
"You were three and I had just turned five. Renee was coming over to pick me up and take me home, but you, Billy, Rachael and Rebecca were there to say goodbye to me. When Renee got to the house, she walked over to you and said you were a handsome young man. Then you welcomed her to Washington with that bright, winning smile of yours and handed her a dead rabbit." Everyone took their attention away from what they were doing and looked at Jacob with either shock or humor in your eyes.
"You did what?" Emmett said this, his voice thick with laughter. I was starring at Jacob, trying very hard not to laugh.
"I handed her a dead rabbit?" Momma was still smiling and nodded her head.
"Yeah. You told her it was a welcoming present from the Quileute tribe. Billy was embarrassed, Charlie and I thought it was funny, your sisters were grossed out and Renee just screamed. When she screamed, you started crying." Daddy laughed harder, and so did everyone else. I was forcing myself not to. Jacob's face became unreadable and stone like.
"So you're telling me your mom knows me as that creepy red kid that handed her a dead rabbit?" Momma started laughing harder.
"That's her best known memory of you yes, but she also knows you as my best friend and the guy that I was always hanging out with doing just about nothing. She still asks about you now and then." Jacob made his voice as high pitched as his bass voice could manage.
"Hey Bella, how's that weird kid who handed me the dead bunny doing? What did he get you for your wedding, a dead deer?" I finally started laughing with everyone else.
"No. She asks how you're doing and if you and I still hang out a lot. I tell her that you're here all the time and that you and Nessie are joined by the hip. She's excited to see you again after all these years." Jacob rolled his eyes.
"Sure, sure." I hugged Jacob's arm and put my thought's into his head.
You can give me a dead rabbit any time Jacob. Jacob laughed and so did daddy.
"I would rather he didn't Nessie." We had a good laugh at that. No one bothered to question why we were laughing. I looked from Jacob to momma.
"Should I pack a lot?" Momma shook her head.
"Don't worry, honey. Alice already packed everything for you. And I made sure everything she packed was something you'd be okay with." I smiled at Alice who just stuck her tongue out at momma.
"Thank you, Alice." I said it earnestly, hoping she wouldn't be mad at me. She looked at me and smiled widely.
"You're welcome, Nessie. It's nice to know someone around here appreciates me." We all laughed. I walked a little closer to her. Jacob followed close behind.
"So what did you pack for me? I don't have many summer clothes." Alice beamed.
"You do now. I gave you a whole wardrobe to take with you to Jacksonville. And I was sure to find you some nice bathing suits for you to wear when you were on the beach. You haven't worn your old one for too long and it's a bit small for you. It wouldn't do you justice anymore anyway." Daddy rolled his eyes.
"Stop trying to make her older than she is Alice. She's hardly a year and a half old." Alice gave daddy a critical look.
"Edward, your daughter is growing up and she's growing up fast. Before you know it, she'll come waltzing in here saying she needs her first bra. The sooner you accept that, the happier we'll all be." Daddy hissed at Alice, but otherwise said nothing. "Don't give me that, Edward."
Alice smiled widely at me again and walked over to me to take my hand. She dragged me with her to the cottage and Jacob followed behind. When we got to the cottage, Alice took me straight to my room where there were two very large suit cases that were both still open. Both were filled with a bag that held my toiletries and all of my hair stuff and a whole bunch of new clothes. Jacob whistled.
"When did Renee call to tell you to send Nessie over?" Alice smiled.
"Last night. Edward wanted to say something then, but I told him to wait until all the necessary arrangements were taken. Such as me having time to get you some new clothes for the trip. Besides, Nessie, I found some of the most adorable stuff at the mall." Jacob rolled his eyes, but I just looked at the clothes.
"Thanks a lot, Alice. You're a life saver." Alice smiled widely.
"I know." Jacob and I laughed at her lack of humility. I walked closer to the suit cases to see what else was in there. I found several pairs of shorts, tank tops, a few sun dresses and a wide array of bathing suits of every color available. Particularly pinks, purples and light blues. Jacob looked into the suit case with me.
"That's a lot of clothes, Alice. Just because I'm curious, how much did all of this cost you? Just curious." I giggled. Jacob knew better than to ask questions like that. Alice answered him without missing a beat.
"$25000." Jacob's eyes looked like they were about to pop out of his head. I laughed at his expression. Jacob looked like he was about to have a stroke.
"How did you manage to spend that much money in one day?" I laughed harder. I answered for Alice. My answer was muffled by my laughter.
"Jacob, that's like asking how a bird flies." Alice started laughing with me and Jacob just rolled his eyes. Once I'd had my fill of looking at my new clothes, we all went back to the house. When we got back, I snatched the remote from Emmett and changed the channels looking for something to watch. Then Jacob stopped me.
"Let's watch this movie." I looked at the title.
"Holes?" Jacob nodded.
"It's one of the few movies where it's better than the book. At least the movie's better in my opinion." I read the description. It sounded like a weird movie.
"A movie about a bunch of kids digging holes?" Jacob chuckled.
"There's more to it than that. There's a whole mystery story and a curse attached to it. Trust me, it's good. You'll like it." I shrugged and didn't argue. I sat next to Jacob, resting my head right below my nook and his arm around me, keeping me warm. Alice watched the movie with us. She promised that the movie was good.
Rosalie was out in the garage, changing the oil in all the cars outside that needed it and such. Momma and daddy were in the music room. Daddy was playing momma her lullaby. Carlisle and Esme were out hunting together. Emmett and Jasper had retreated outside to play fight. When I glanced at them, it looked like Jasper was winning.
The movie was actually enjoyable. It was kind of cute even. I would make an effort to read the book one of these days and see if the movie was in fact better. When the movie was over, Jacob took the remote and started looking through the channels again.
"So what did you think?" He was still looking at the TV, but he was smiling hopefully. I giggled.
"It was good. I'll admit I liked it. I'll have to see if I can't find the book and read it one of these days." I felt Jacob shrug.
"No need. I have the book. We had to read it in elementary school. I want to say I was in first or second grade when that book came out." I heard daddy's voice from the music room.
"The book was published in 1998. You would have been six at the time. So first grade is about right." Jacob nodded his head.
"They didn't make us read it until I was in fifth grade though, if I remember correctly. I think my age group was the second ones to be required to read it in fifth grade. I wasn't crazy about the book. But Quil and Embry made me see the movie with them and I actually liked it." I smiled.
"Would you bring it tomorrow? I could read it on the plane or something. You'll be sleeping the whole time we're on the plane. I know tonight's your night for patrol." Jacob chuckled.
"You know me like the back of your hand, you know that?" I giggled and gave him a smug smile. He just laughed harder. "Okay, Ness. I'll bring the book tomorrow so you can read it on the plane. You be sure to tell me what you think." I nodded my head.
"I will." Jacob and I looked through the channels looking for something to watch. Then Alice snatched the remote from us and changed it back to a channel she had seen. Sarah Jessica Parker filled the screen. I heard daddy's disapproving voice.
"I don't want Nessie watching that." Alice rolled her eyes.
"It's just Sex and the City, Edward." I felt daddy get more annoyed.
"JUST Sex and the City? Half of the show is based purely on Samantha's love life." Alice rolled her eyes again.
"No it's not. Samantha isn't the main character. Carrie is. And she doesn't show many of her love scenes. And even when you do see love scenes, you don't see anything else except their boob. It's nothing that Nessie won't have." I was laughing at the conversation. This was just so stupid.
"Just because she'll have them herself doesn't mean she needs to see everyone else's. And I don't care if you say it's a good movie, she's not watching it. She wouldn't appreciate the movie anyway."
"Sure she will. I'll explain whatever she doesn't understand."
"No you won't. She doesn't need to understand what they're talking about. And frankly, she's never watched the series, so she still wouldn't appreciate it." Alice rolled her eyes again, but listened to daddy and changed the channel. She changed it to a random educational channel. Jacob took the remote and started looking for something.
Jacob stopped when he saw a movie that he thought looked good or that he already liked. The description read Scream.
"NO!" Daddy's voice was stern and audible. Jacob sighed and started looking again. Then he found a movie that he thought looked good. The title said Gladiator.
"Is this movie okay, daddy darling?" I giggled and so did momma. I could feel daddy rolling his eyes.
"Fine. She can watch it." Jacob laughed lightly and held me tighter to him.
"Nothing wrong with excessive blood and guts, right?" I giggled. We watched the movie in a comfortable silence. Just as Jacob said, there was a lot of blood. But the story behind it was really good. When the movie was over, I knew what Jacob would ask and answered him before he could.
"That was really good. I hated Commodus though." Jacob chuckled.
"You're supposed to. He's the bad guy."
"He was such a girly man too. He seemed so effeminate." Jacob laughed again.
"Yeah, he did didn't he?" We both laughed together. Daddy stopped playing the piano and came into the family room where we were.
"Jacob, you better get home and pack before you go on patrol. The flight leaves at two so I need you hear by eleven. It doesn't take us long to get there but customs and such takes forever. Can you be here on time?" Jacob rolled his eyes and nodded.
"Sure, sure. I'll be here by eleven." Jacob stood from the couch and walked to the door. I followed closely behind him. When he got to the door, he turned around to face me. He bent down and kissed the top of my head and I kissed his cheek. "Night, Nessie. I'll see you tomorrow." I nodded.
"See you tomorrow." Jacob smiled and then walked out of the house and to his car. When he drove away, momma and daddy were suddenly right behind me. I closed the door and turned around to face them. I smiled at them and they smiled back.
"Let's get you back to the cottage. You need to get some sleep." I nodded my head and walked with them back to the cottage. It wasn't raining outside today, but it was still really wet and the weather was cold. We didn't get much snow this year, just unusually cold rain. When we reached the cottage, I went to get my small bag of toiletries from my suitcase and went about my nightly routine. I decided to take a shower too.
When I got out of the shower, I went to the living room where momma and daddy were, cuddled together, and kissed them both goodnight. I went to my room and got into bed. I looked at my clock and noticed that it was only nine thirty. Oh well. I went to sleep a few minutes after getting into bed.
I woke up the next morning to a cold hand touching my face. I opened my eyes to see who it was. Momma was sitting next to my bed. I smiled at her and she smiled back at me.
"Morning, Renesmee. It's time to get up." I just nodded my head and pushed myself out of bed. I went to the bathroom and went about my morning routine. When I was done, I brought my bag of toiletries back to my suitcase and zipped it all up. I went to my dresser to find something to wear. I just settled for a pair of blue jeans and my Bed Head shirt. It was short sleeved so I could wear a jacket over it while I was here and then take off the jacket once we got to Jacksonville.
"How's Jacksonville?" Momma smiled lightly.
"Really sunny. I loved it. It's really humid, but it was still nice." I smiled and nodded my head. Momma smiled back and left the room. "We're leaving for the house as soon as you're ready, honey. Jacob should be here in a half hour." I nodded my head, and with that, momma left the room to go wait with daddy in the living room. I opened one of the suitcases to look for my hair comb. I knew I would want my hair up. I found my plumeria comb and put in into place where the rubber band held my hair.
I called for momma and daddy to come and help me with my bags. I took my backpack which had my cellphone, mp3 player and some space left for the book Jacob said he would bring for me to read. When we got to the house, Carlisle gave me a large water bottle. I looked at him questioningly when I noticed it was blood, but started drinking it.
"I want you to be well fed before you go. I have two more of those. I'll give you the other one when you finish that one." I nodded my head at Carlisle and drank the contents of the bottle as fast as I could. When I was done with that, he handed me the second, then the third one when I finished the second.
"Thanks Carlisle." I said, smiling at him. He smiled back and nodded his head.
"You're welcome, Nessie. You be safe on your trip, okay?" I nodded my head. I knew that I wouldn't have anything to worry about. Jacob would be with me and that made me feel safe. I went into the living room with everyone else and sat on the couch next to Emmett, waiting for Jacob to get here.
When I finally heard Jacob's car coming up the drive, I went to the door. I opened the door and waited on the porch. When he was in front of the house, he got out and went to his trunk, but not before waving at me.
"Morning, Nessie." I waved my hand back at him.
"Morning Jacob. You looking forward to four hour flight?" He chuckled as he grabbed his suitcase out of the trunk of his car.
"Yes. I need the sleep. And I brought 'Holes'." I smiled and walked over to help him with his smaller suitcase. Daddy came out and was standing on the porch.
"Follow me to the garage. I'll drive you two to the airport. Don't worry Jacob, you can leave your car here." Jacob nodded his head and through the keys at momma where she was now standing on the porch. Emmett carried my stuff into the garage and everyone followed behind him. Once everything was stuffed into the car, everyone started saying goodbye to me.
"You have fun, Nessie. And don't let that wardrobe I got you go to waste." I nodded my head at Alice.
"I won't, Alice. I'll wear everything you bought me." She beamed her smile at me. Then Rosalie nudged Alice aside and hugged me goodbye.
"Be sure to wear sunscreen. I'm not willing to find out if it's possible for you to get sunburn or not." I giggled.
"I will, Rosalie." She hugged me tighter and I hugged her back. Esme hugged me when Rosalie finally let me go.
"You have fun, Nessie." I nodded.
"I will, Esme." Everyone hugged me and gave me their farewells. Even Jasper hugged me goodbye and said that he would miss me. Jasper and I had a strange relationship. We were close, but on a silent level, if that made any sense. Emmett and I were close too. Our relationship was more or less based on the soul fact that we like to annoy each other. Particularly when we fight over the remote.
"Let's go. We need to get you there so you'll have enough time to get through customs." I saw Emmett shake his head. Daddy rolled his eyes.
"Honestly, Ness. We could destroy the world and we still have to put up with that shit." Jacob and I laughed. Daddy got into the driver's seat and Jacob got into the passenger's seat up front. Emmett patted my head. "See you in a week kid. Have fun." I nodded my head.
"I will." I waved goodbye to everyone and hopped into the back seat of daddy's Volvo. Daddy drove us out of the driveway at a speed that only he could pull off. We managed to get to the airport in Seattle in a half hour and the extra ten minutes were on account of all the cars that were packing into the airport trying to get in.
Daddy took us both to get our tickets and to get our luggage ready. When we got to the checking point, daddy hugged me and told me to have fun and be careful. He patted Jacob's shoulder and told him that he would be dead if I came home in any less than the perfect condition I left in. I mentally asked daddy to lay off and he just gave me his 'don't get snippy with me' look.
I kissed daddy goodbye one last time before going into customs and Jacob promised that I would be fine in his hands. It took us an hour to get through customs. The guards paid a lot more attention to Jacob than they really needed to, but Jacob never complained. Jacob and I found our gate and prepared to wait another hour before our plane landed. Jacob handed me the book from his backpack then went straight to sleep. It wasn't long before he was snoring.
I giggled when the people around us started staring at him, annoyance all over their faces. Jacob's snores were slightly muffled with his face downward and into his jacket, but other than that, anyone could hear it. A man in a business suit that was sitting directly behind Jacob finally got fed up and was the first one to audibly complain. He turned around to face Jacob.
"Hey, moron, you mind not snoring? Some of us have to work." Then he jabbed Jacob's shoulder and that startled him. Jacob immediately turned and grabbed the guy's hand and was about to throw him until he realized there was no danger. I touched Jacob's knee.
It's okay, Jacob. He was just tapping on your shoulder to ask you to keep your snoring down. Jacob practically growled at the guy.
"Jabbed my shoulder would be the more appropriate word." The man looked confused, but his face was still scared. It was extremely obvious that Jacob hadn't slept in a while. He was always crankier when he was tired, and if he was hungry too, all hell broke loss, relatively speaking. "Don't touch me again, do you hear me?"
"Yeah." The guy nodded his head nervously. When he had responded, Jacob pushed him back while letting go of the man's suit. He fell back out of his chair and ran to another seat. I touched Jacob's arm to try and calm him down.
It's alright, Jacob. Don't let him get to you. Try to go back to sleep, you need it. Jacob looked at me with the same cranky look, but then smiled gently. He put his hand on my shoulder and gently squeezed and released a few times, trying to calm himself. I patted his hand with mine. Better?
"Yeah, a little. Sorry about that." I shook my head.
He was being rude. Granted you didn't react the best way possible, but you haven't had sleep in hours and you obviously haven't eaten in a while either. So I kind of expected your reaction. Jacob laughed lightly. He rubbed my arm now and I rested my head just below my nook.
"You still shouldn't have seen that. Let's not tell Edward about this okay." I giggled and nodded my head. Jacob smiled, then rested his head on top of mine and went back to sleep. His snoring was a little quieter this time, but it was still kind of loud. But no one bothered to complain this time. When our plane finally landed and was boarding, I nudged Jacob awake.
"Wake up, Jacob. The plane is here." Jacob groaned and forced himself out of the chair. He grabbed his backpack and I grabbed mine. We got in line, gave the lady our tickets and went to our seats. Momma and daddy had made sure that we had seats together. There was one other person who was going to sit next to us, but he hadn't come yet.
"Just watch, Nessie. We're going to have a talker sitting next to us the whole flight." I looked at him with curious eyes.
"A talker?" He nodded.
"In this case, it's a person that talks to you when you really don't want them to and they talk to you about the most uninteresting subjects. They're those kind of people that seem to know everybody, but no one likes them. Dane Cook classified this type of person as Karen the Duchebag." Then I immediately got what he was talking about. I had seen one of Dane Cook's stand up shows and I had thought he was pretty funny.
"That sounds unpleasant." Jacob chuckled.
"It's very unpleasant. Let's hope I'm wrong." We laughed together for a moment before Jacob started trying to get some sleep. Then, suddenly, a little kid sat next to Jacob. He couldn't be any older than three. Jacob didn't wake up though.
Jacob started snoring lightly, so he wasn't completely asleep yet, but he was getting there. The little kid was talking to his mother. He was starting to have a tantrum. Jacob's face became annoyed, but he kept his eyes closed, trying his best to ignore it. When the mother got her son to finally calm down, the boy sat there with a huge pout on his face and his arms crossed angrily.
From what I was hearing from their conversation, the little boy had wanted something that he saw in the airport and the mother had said no. I instantly thought about my family at that moment. I had never gotten into any real trouble before. I knew what my parents expected of me and what they deemed as worthy behavior, so I knew what lines to never cross. I knew that if I were to ever pull that sort of stunt with daddy or momma, especially daddy, they would have made me regret it. But all they ever needed to do to keep me in line was a stern, angry look or a stern tone of voice. They had never laid a hand on me, because they never needed to. Emmett was tempted to a few times, but that was when we had first started getting to know each other, and daddy wouldn't have it.
The little boy stayed that way for several minutes, and I heard Jacob start to snore lightly again, so he would be asleep soon. The captain came on and told everyone to buckle up because we would be taking off. I knew Jacob wasn't paying attention and wouldn't have bothered anyway, so I buckled his seat so he wouldn't have to wake up. Jacob smiled gently and I smiled back.
The plane took off a few minutes afterwards. That's when Jacob's snores started to get a little louder. He was completely asleep now. I smiled at him and then went into my bag to look for the book I had been reading. I looked at Jacob one last time, only to realize that the little boy was now starring at Jacob. I looked at the kid, prepared to stop him from whatever he planned on doing. But he just stared at him.
After five minutes of just starring at Jacob, he reached up and looked like he was about to pull Jacob's hair. A little more quickly than I should have, I grabbed the kids hands, and possibly a little tighter than I should have. The kid looked at me in shock, than annoyance. I didn't loosen my grasp on him though.
"Please. Don't touch him. He's a light sleeper and he gets startled easily. If you force him out of sleep, he'll hit you on accident." The kid tried to pull away from me.
"I can do whatever I want!" Jacob steered, but I kept hold of the little boy. I gave him the best 'don't mess with me' look that I could. I was trying to imitate the look daddy gave people when they thought the wrong things about momma and were about to come to close and it worked every time. For him. But it didn't seem to be working for me.
"Look. I don't want you to get hurt. Just leave the man alone and nothing will happen." The kid pulled away again and this time I let him go. I kept my face in the stern glare of daddy's that I was trying to imitate and failing miserably it appeared. He stuck his tongue out at me and then went back into his little pout and crossed arms. I ignored the boy and started reading my book.
I was at the part of the book where Stanley found Kissen Kate Barlow's tube of lipstick when I heard someone yell in surprise and then a little kid screaming and crying. I looked up to see that the little boy was crying and Jacob looked shocked, confused and most of all, annoyed. I touched Jacob's arm to calm him, but didn't push my thoughts to him.
"What happened? Did he pull your hair?" Jacob's hair wasn't that long at the moment. It was nearly to his shoulders, but it wasn't that long. I didn't understand why the little boy found it so interesting that he needed to pull on it. And Jacob wasn't snoring very loudly, so I couldn't imagine that being the reason.
"Yeah. I was asleep, then suddenly, the little kid pulled on my hair. It startled me and I hit him as a reflex." The little kid was still crying. I began to wonder where his mom was. Jacob gave the boy an apologetic look, but at the same time a look that said he'd gotten what he deserved. I agreed with the second part. I warned the kid not to and he did it anyway. Now I was the one to be annoyed.
"I told you not to pull his hair." The boy screamed at me to shut up and kept crying. The entire plane was either starring at us, or trying very hard not to. Then a stewardess came over and asked what was going on.
"I was sleeping and he woke me up. He startled me was all." I felt the need to intervene.
"I'm really sorry, but the little boy had pulled on Jacob's hair while he was sleeping. I told him not to, but he didn't listen to me. Jacob was only acting on a reflex." The stewardess looked at Jacob, looked at me, then looked at the little boy. The little boy was still crying and looked like he was giving the Stewardess a pleading look. Then the mother finally showed up.
"What happened here?" The stewardess told the mother the same thing I had told her. The mother looked at Jacob and I, then at her son. "Is that true, Steven?" Steven shook his head.
"No. I wasn't doing anything." I was about to yell at this kid, but then a person that was sitting across from us behind the mother's seat spoke out.
"That is what happened. That girl asked him nicely to not touch the man sitting next to her. Your son pulled on the man's hair and he only swung his arm out in surprise." I smiled at that guy and he smiled back. The mother looked at all of us again, then took her son from his seat and into her lap and started soothing the boy. Like he needed it. I looked back at Jacob.
"Are you all right?" Jacob rolled his eyes.
"The universe just won't let me sleep will it?" I giggled, but Jacob didn't stop looking annoyed. I touched his arm.
Switch places with me. That way you won't have to worry about dealing with anyone. If the boy sits back in that seat, you'll be able to sleep and I'll deal with him. Jacob smiled lightly at me, but he still looked really mad.
"Thanks Ness. But don't hesitate to wake me up if this kid is bothering you. I wouldn't wish a snotty brat on my worst enemies." I nodded my head and Jacob pulled me from my seat and sat me back into his seat once he had taken mine. Then Jacob rested his head against the wall and started to snore lightly again after a few minutes. The little boy eventually took his seat again, but he didn't bother us anymore.
They showed an in flight movie about a half hour into the flight. I think it was called, 'He's just not that into you'. I didn't understand all of the jokes, but it wasn't half bad. It was a chick flick, though, so it's no wonder that I'd never seen it before.
When that movie was over, they showed another movie. I didn't pay attention to that movie though. It was a kid's movie, and I rarely ever liked those, with the exception of a few Disney classics. Anything else just seemed really dumb, and Jacob usually agreed with me. We finally landed in Jacksonville about four hours later and, somehow, the landing didn't wake Jacob up. I was careful never to bother him. Not even when the stewardess asked what we would like to have for lunch. He really needed sleep.
When everyone was beginning to get out of their seats, I gently placed my hand on Jacob's arm, wanting to wake him up gradually.
We landed Jacob. It's time to wake up. He groaned in protest. I know you're still really tired, but you need to get up. He groaned again, but this time more in acknowledgement. He finally forced open his eyes and looked at me. He smiled at me.
"We're here already?" I nodded my head. He sighed. "Alright. I'll get our stuff out of the overhead. How far are you in 'Holes'?" I held it up.
"I finished it twenty minutes ago." Jacob chuckled lightly.
"And?" I smiled at him and giggled.
"You were right. The movie was actually better." Jacob gave me a smug smile.
"Of course I was right." I smacked his side gently with the book and he started laughing lightly at me. He got our things out of the head compartment and handed me my small bag. When the way was clear, we started walking out of the plane.
"Does grandma know that we've landed?" Jacob nodded his head.
"Alice said that she would be at the airport an hour before us. She also told me she would be wearing a pair of faded jeans and a purple shirt. Don't worry, Bella showed me a recent picture of her before we left. I know who I'm looking for." I nodded my head and took hold of his hand so we wouldn't get separated.
When we finally got out of the crowd of people, Jacob and I looked around for grandma. We didn't see her at first. Jacob said she probably went to the bathroom or something and that we should just wait for her where we were. Two minutes of looking later, we found grandma. She didn't look right at us at first. She saw Jacob and was initially freaked out. I ran over to her and hugged her when I reached her. She seemed surprised by this.
"Hi, grandma. It's nice to finally meet you." She looked at me with shocked eyes. Jacob walked over to us and was smiling politely at grandma. She wasn't paying attention to him anymore though.
"Renesmee?" I nodded my head. She shook her head then, as if she was trying to make sense of something. "But, you should only be a year and a half old." I nodded my head again. That's when Jacob was sure to stop me.
"She's just growing really fast. It's nothing to be worried about, really." She continued to look at me. I knew that daddy asked me not to. But when I had shown everything to grandpa, with the exception of the actual vampire stuff, he had taken it amazingly well. I was hoping that grandma would be the same way.
I touched grandma's hand and showed her my life. I excluded anything that had to do with Aro and the Volturi and anything else that had to do with vampires and werewolves, but I showed her everything. It took all of five minutes to show her my life. I felt Jacob get nervous behind me. When I was done, grandma just stared at me in blatant disbelief. I smiled back at her, then suddenly, she fainted.
"Grandma?!" Jacob came over to catch her. He saved her head from the floor. I sighed in relief.
"You shouldn't have shown her everything, Nessie. Renee isn't as strong as Charlie." His tone was soft but hard. I looked at Jacob, giving him a scolding look.
"What difference does it make? Why should I have to lie to my own family, Jacob?" I knew I was raising my voice at him. He didn't deserve that, but I didn't care at that moment.
"Renesmee, don't yell at me. I know that you hate lying to your family about this, but you have to for a reason." I got even angrier.
"You tell people that I'm Edward and Bella Cullen's biological daughter, why can't I?" I kept my voice low this time. Jacob sighed and lifted up grandma and started walking to the restaurant that was closest to the gate we were at. I followed.
"Nessie, I never say that to anyone who would know better. Telling that Lauren chick last year was really the only person in Forks that I've ever told the truth to. And frankly, I hadn't meant to. I was just lucky that she was an idiot. The guys at work know you're Edward and Bella's biological daughter, but then again, they've never met or known you parents."
"Why should strangers get to know? I don't want to lie to grandma, Jacob. I'll keep the family secret but I won't lie to her." Jacob sighed again. I was about to say something else, but grandma woke back up. "Grandma? Are you okay?" I went to her and held her hand. Jacob remained silent.
Grandma looked at me, I think trying to convince herself that the last few minutes hadn't happened. She finally shook her head and cleared her throat. She lifted herself up so that she was sitting upright. I kept holding her hand. She just stared at me.
"What did you do, Nessie?" Her voice sounded scared. Now I was nervous. I didn't want grandma to be scared of me.
"It's a gift of mine is all. I guess you could call it psychic." She blinked a few times, then breathed out a shaky breath.
"Bella never mentioned that." I smiled shyly at her and nodded.
"It's not something we talk about much." Jacob remained silent. I was glad. I was really mad at him now. I didn't want to risk me starting to yell at him again.
"I can see that." She laughed without humor. "So my granddaughter is special. How exciting." I smiled at her. She seemed to not be extremely bothered by it. When she collected herself, she looked back at Jacob, who was sitting across the table , not facing us. "It's been a long time since I've last seen you Jacob. How've you been?" Jacob faced her and gave her his kind smile, though the smile wasn't exactly genuine.
"I've been doing good. I just turned nineteen." Grandma looked surprised.
"Wow. I feel old right now." Jacob chuckled lightly, once again, forced. "It seems just like yesterday, you were handing me a dead rabbit as a welcoming present." She laughed, but Jacob only smiled. I didn't join in. "Well, we better get your suitcases. Let's get going. I'm taking us out to dinner tonight."
Jacob and I followed grandma to where all the suitcases were. Jacob found ours pretty quickly and we were outside looking for the car in no time. Once we finally found her car, Jacob put the luggage in the trunk, then got into the back seat. I sat in the front seat so I would be able to talk to grandma. We talked the whole way to her house. When she was driving, it felt like we weren't even moving. I was so used to the way daddy or momma drove, which was significantly faster than grandma.
We got to the house in an hour and a half. A trip daddy would have made in a half hour tops. She helped us take our bags into the house. Jacob put his stuff in the living room, saying that he would sleep on the couch. Grandma let him know that the couch had a pull out bed. Grandma led me upstairs and to the room on the left part of the large hallway. She opened the door and led me in.
"This would be your mom's room. She would stay here whenever she were to visit. I only wish she had visited more than once in the past few years." I put the bags I was holding down on the floor.
The room was nice and open. It had a window that had a great view of the beach that was only a mile or so away. It had white walls with green window shutters. The floor was a hardwood floor that was a dark shade. The bed, which was a twin size bed, had yellow bedcovering. The closet was to my right when I entered into the room and it had a double door entrance.
"What do you think? Do you like it, Nessie?" I looked around the room once more and nodded my head.
"It's really pretty. Thank you grandma." She smiled and walked over to me and gave me a hug. She laughed lightly then. "What?"
"It's just so strange being called a grandma. It was strange enough being acknowledged as mom." I giggled with her. After we hugged, she showed me where my bathroom was and I placed my bag of toiletries in there for safe keeping. When she had showed me the whole upstairs, we went back downstairs to see the rest of the house. Jacob was getting the bed set up while we were looking.
Once grandma had finished giving me the grand tour of the house, she took me to the kitchen to talk a little more. Jacob primarily stayed in the living room reading. It was one of the car magazines he liked so much. That would keep him occupied for a while.
"So, Nessie, tell me, are you already going to school?" Why does everyone keep asking me that question? It was getting detestable. I shrugged.
"I'm actually home schooled. Daddy and everyone are really good teachers. Better than any I could have in a public school system I think." Grandma smiled at me.
"That's good to know, Nessie. Do you have any friends around your age?" And this question too? Oh well. I shook my head.
"I actually don't really hang out with many kids my age. I don't really relate to them very well." Mostly because most kids my age were still learning how to talk. Grandma suddenly looked concerned.
"Well, that's not good. You need to hang out with kids your own age. It's only healthy." I nodded my head.
"I know. But I am friends with a girl who's close to my age. Claire. She's really nice and she's always a lot of fun." Grandma started smiling again.
"Well that's good, Nessie. As long as you're making friends." I nodded my head and smiled kindly. I guess being a kindergarten teacher made her a little over worried about a child's socialization and such. We talked the rest of the afternoon, pretty much catching up on time we've missed. When it was six, she suddenly got worried. "We need to get going. I made a reservation for us at seven."
I nodded my head and Jacob started moving to get some better clothes. Grandma let me know that it was a nice place and that I should dress nicely. I went into my room and looked through my suitcase. I ended up picking the little sundress that Alice had packed. It was very fitted and it had circles all over it, but they were demure. Not polka dots. I put on a pair of slightly heeled sandals and walked downstairs. Jacob was already dressed in his only dress shirt and still wearing blue jeans. He looked at me with a very serious expression on his face. I was sure he wanted to talk about what happened at the airport.
"Nessie, we need to talk." I wasn't in the mood to talk. I didn't answer. Jacob was about to say something, but I was saved by grandma running down the stairs in a pair of heels, dress pants and a red blouse. She complimented both of us on how nice we looked and asked Jacob to tuck in his shirt.
When we got to the restaurant, it was really crowded. Grandma thanked god to herself for having made reservations ahead of time. The restaurant that grandma had picked was an Italian restaurant that she said was one her favorites and the best one in town. Grandma gave the host her name and he led us to a booth in the far end. Grandma asked me to sit next to her and Jacob sat across from us. He looked really uncomfortable. Probably because he still wanted to talk to me about whatever was on his mind.
"Do you like Italian food, Nessie? I'd forgotten to ask Bella if you did." I hated most human food, but there was no need to let her know that. I didn't want to be difficult. I put a huge smile on my face.
"I like portabella mushrooms a lot." Grandma smiled and giggled lightly. I was trying to breathe as little as possible. The smell of garlic and onions in this place was horridly overwhelming.
"Wow. I don't meet many kids that like that sort of food at your age. It's a good thing you like healthy foods, though." I smiled and nodded my head. Jacob simply starred out the window, his face looking thoughtful. Grandma took him out of his daze. "Jacob?" Jacob came to attention. He forced his kindest smile.
"Yeah?"
"You like Italian food, right?" Jacob nodded his head.
"Yeah, it's good. Don't worry, I'll pay for my half of the meal." Grandma suddenly looked slightly offended, but still smiled.
"Don't even think about it. I invited you to come, I'll handle the bill. You just sit back and enjoy your dinner." Jacob smiled appreciatively.
"All right. If you insist." Grandma smiled wider.
"I do." Then the bread and butter were brought to our table and the waiter asked what we would have to drink. Jacob got his usual root beer and grandma decided to get herself a dry martini. I just stuck with water. It was the only thing that I could drink and didn't make me sick. "So, Jacob, tell me. What do you do now that you're out of high school?" Jacob kept his smile pleasant.
"I work at a car maintenance shop." Grandma seemed to be interested.
"Are you going to college?" Jacob shook his head. Grandma seemed instantly disappointed with that fact.
"No. I can't really afford it. And I was able to get myself a good job after I got my GED, so I'm not complaining." In all truthfulness, Jacob simply didn't want or have time to go to college. To him, the idea of being stuck in a classroom for another four years or so was torture. And with the pack, he hardly had time for work as it was.
"Couldn't you get student loans, or scholarships?" Jacob shrugged.
"Those have to be paid off. And in all honesty, I don't want to spend the rest of my life paying off college debts." Grandma shrugged and left the matter at that. The waiter brought everyone their drinks. Grandma took a sip of her martini, which burned my nose, then looked back at me.
"So, Nessie, what are your hobbies." I smiled sweetly at her.
"Daddy is teaching me how to play the piano." In truth, he had already taught me. But I wasn't sure if she'd believe me if I told her that I've already pretty much gotten the piano down pat.
"That's wonderful, Nessie! I'm so glad you're getting interested in a musical instrument. I wish I could play the piano. I sound revolting when I try, but I still love playing it." I smiled. I wasn't sure whether she was exaggerating or not. I'd heard so many stories about grandma that sometimes, even the weirdest stuff sounded like something she would do.
"Yeah. And he's teaching me Spanish." And Portuguese, and French, and Italian, and German, and Polish and many, many more. I always wondered how daddy managed to find the time to teach me all these languages. I was pretty much fluent in Spanish and Italian. Those were my favorites. Everything else I was still working on. Grandma practically hopped from her seat.
"That's wonderful! I never knew Edward spoke Spanish." Jacob rolled his eyes at how many languages he actually knew. I kicked Jacob's leg from under the table. He didn't react, but I knew it had hurt him. Grandma had no knowledge of this little transaction.
"Yeah. He's really good at it. He's a bit of a linguist." Grandma looked imprested.
"Don't we have a wide vocabulary?" I just laughed with her. "Does Edward have you reading the dictionary too?" I laughed again. He kind of did.
"I guess you could say that. Whenever I hear a word that I'm not familiar with, daddy will always tell me to look it up in the dictionary." Grandma giggled.
"That's good." The waiter came over and asked us what we would like to eat. I picked something that had plenty of capers and portabella mushrooms, that way I could at least pick at it. Grandma got herself a pasta dish and Jacob just stuck with a stake. The food got to us in about a half hour. I was able to pick out the mushrooms and capers, but everything else tasted like horrible, garlicky dirt.
The rest of the meal, we just talked about things I wanted to do and whether or not I would ever go to school. I just told her that I honestly didn't know. Grandma was everything that momma said she would be. She was loud and talkative and she always had a new idea for something that we should all do while we were here.
When we had finished eating, grandma paid for dinner and we left the table and went to go leave. Jacob was right behind us and I wasn't really paying any attention to him at the time. It took me by surprise when I felt his hand on my shoulder.
"Hey, Renee?" Grandma turned around and faced Jacob from where she was looking for her car keys in her purse.
"Yeah, Jacob?" Jacob gave her a polite smile.
"Would you mind if I took Renesmee to go get some ice cream? I saw a place on our way here." Grandma smiled.
"That sounds like fun. Just show me the way and we can go." Jacob didn't change his face.
"Actually, I was hoping if it could be just me and her. It's just something we do." I kept a straight face. Grandma looked a little disappointed, but she didn't get mad.
"Yeah, sure, that would be fine. Are you sure, though? Do you know the way back to the house?" Jacob nodded his head. He kept his hand on my shoulder.
"Don't worry, Renee. I remember the way back. And I have your number so I can call you if we get lost." Grandma nodded her head.
"Okay. If you're sure." She walked over to her car and drove away. When she was gone, Jacob's face turned sad. I didn't look at him. I was still upset with him.
"You're mad at me." I didn't react in any way. I didn't really need to. "Why are you mad at me?" He came in front of me and bent to my level. "Seriously, Nessie, what did I do?" I sighed. I showed him the incident that happened earlier at the airport. He had snapped at me. That, and he lectured me on who I should and shouldn't show my thoughts to. I hadn't appreciated that.
Jacob listened to what I was complaining about, his face staying as one of concentration. When I was finished showing him everything that I was upset with him about, he sighed heavily, opened his eyes and looked at me.
"You're still mad at me about that?"
"Yes. I shouldn't have to lie to my family. Why should I have to let them think I'm something I'm not?" Jacob sighed again.
"It's for your own good, Nessie. And for the good of everyone else. Renee and Charlie only know what they need to know. If they knew anything else, then they would be in a lot of danger, you know that. You remember the Volturi don't you?"
"How would they ever find out whether or not grandpa and grandma knew? They don't have Alice's power or any other power that would confirm this from a distance."
"Why risk it? I know that you mean well, Nessie, but you can't just show your thoughts to anyone you please. Even if they don't catch onto the whole vampire thing, they don't need that to make a fortune out of you." I gave him my annoyed/confused face all in one.
"What are you talking about?" Jacob grabbed my shoulders this time, making me look him in the eyes.
"Nessie, you're special. In more ways than one. People could make a fortune off of your gift if they were to ever find out. Scientists would want to study you and would treat you like a lab rat. They would make you the eighth wonder of the world and make millions from it." I rolled my eyes.
"I wouldn't show my thoughts to anyone but family." My tone was harsh, but I was trying to keep my voice down.
"And who's to say that the person you show won't tell someone else about it? Who's to say they won't tell someone else and so on? You have to be careful, Nessie! You seem to forget that." Now I was offended. More so than I already was.
"And you seem to forget that I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself, Jacob!" Now I was yelling. Jacob was still holding my shoulders, trying to ask me to keep my voice down. I wasn't in the mood. Jacob's face was turning from apologetic to extremely angry.
"Whether or not you're capable of taking care of yourself isn't the issue here, Renesmee! The issue is the fact that you don't seem to care if anyone knows too much about you! I won't lose you because you decided to let someone know what you were thinking!" I was tearing up and I didn't know why. I was so mad. But there was something else bothering me, and I had no idea what it was. I felt like my heart was being crushed. Why would I have such a feeling?
I pushed Jacob's hands off of me and took a few steps away from him. Jacob tried to follow me, but the closer he tried to come, the farther away from him I walked. Every time I did that, though, I felt sick.
"I'm not yours to lose Jacob!" I instantly regretted saying those words. His face became pained, heartbroken even. Why? He then took a deep breath and composed his face. He was shaking now. He was about to faze. I got nervous.
"You're right, Renesmee. You're not mine to lose." His eyes were intense and almost glaring at me, but they still looked so hurt. "But that doesn't mean I don't still care about you. And whether you're mine to lose or not, I'll be damned if I ever let anything happen to you."
I just stared at him. I didn't know what else to say. He looked hurt, but was trying very hard not to let me see it. Jacob was one that had far too much pride to ever let anyone see him cry, even me. But he looked on the verge of tearing up. I already was. Jacob sighed heavily before talking again.
"I'm going to take you back to Renee's. But once I have you dropped off, I'm going out for a run." He stood up and away from me. He started walking in the right direction. "Let's go, Renesmee." I looked ahead for a moment before I started following him.
It was so strange. He had never called me by my full name so many times at once. He usually only called me by my full name when the situation was extreme, one way or another. He was really upset. We walked back to the house in awkward silence. I stayed close behind him, but it felt strange now. I felt like I was suffocating and I didn't know why. It wasn't because my best friend was mad at me. There was more to it, but I didn't know what it was.
The lights were on in the house when we got back. The yellow house looked darker now that it was night time. Jacob stayed on the sidewalk while I walked up to the house. When I reached the door, I turned around, hopping to try and talk to him. But he was gone when I looked back. I held my head down for a moment. Then I took a deep breath and held my head high again. I wouldn't let grandma get involved in this. When I opened the door, grandma wasn't downstairs.
"Is that you, Nessie?" The voice came from upstairs. I took another desperately needed deep breath, then smiled.
"Yeah, it's me." She came down the stairs wearing her pajama shorts and a baggy star wars shirt. She smiled when she saw me and looked around to look for Jacob. Her face became confused when she didn't see him.
"Where's Jacob?" I shrugged, not letting her see anything that I was feeling at the moment.
"He said he wanted to go out running. He left to run after he dropped me off here." Her face stayed confused.
"Why didn't he come in and change into something more appropriate for running?" I smiled forcefully.
"He brought a change of clothes with him. Didn't you notice?" Her face became even more confused. She thought about it for a moment. When she had thought about it for a moment, she looked at me again.
"Are you sure? I don't remember seeing him holding a change of clothes." I shrugged again.
"Yeah. I don't blame you for not seeing them. He had them behind his back for most of the time." Grandma looked at me questioningly for a moment, but then said nothing more on the matter.
"So do you want to do anything while we wait for him to get back?" I kept a straight face. I learned how to do that from daddy. I shook my head without changing my face.
"I was just going to go to bed if that's okay." She looked disappointed but smiled and nodded at me.
"Alright, Nessie. Sleep tight okay, honey." I nodded at her and walked over to her to give her a hug.
"Night, grandma."
"Night, Nessie." I walked past her as she went downstairs. I smelled the coffee that she was heating up and the vanilla coffee mate she added to it. I did my nightly routine, changed into my pajamas and took my hair down from its ponytail. I tried not to look at my hair comb and I took it out.
I hopped into bed and turned off the lights. I heard grandma clean out her coffee cup and walk back up the stairs and to her room. When she got to her room, I heard her dialing the phone. When whoever she called answered, she greeted them with joy in her voice. She had called Phil. I laid in bed trying not to think. It took a while before I was finally asleep, but I did eventually fall asleep.
JPOV
I stayed on the sidewalk and watched Nessie walk to the door. Once she got to the front door, I ran as fast as I could in whatever direction I could. There weren't much woods in the area we were in. I figured I would find a place to faze eventually, so I just kept running. I ended up running along the highway, desperately looking for a lush forest of any kind. I wouldn't have cared if it were a crocodile infested marsh, it would have been cover from the outside world. Before I knew it, I saw the sign welcoming me to Georgia.
I saw another sign as I went along the highway. I had been running for a little over an hour now, at a much faster pace than any human. The Okenfenokee National Wild Life preserve. Perfect. I ran into the beginning of the vast refuge. When I was a good hundred feet away from the road, I took off my clothes, tied them to my ankle, then fazed at long last.
Jacob? Hey, dude, how's Florida? Seth read the thoughts I had about the night and the fight. Wow. Are you okay?
Jacob, don't feel bad. She's little. Little kids say things like that all the time. I can't tell you how many times Claire told me she hated me, but then five minutes later she loves me again. I rolled my eyes.
Quil, Claire is five. Nessie is developmentally eleven and is a lot smarter than most adults. I don't think the terrible toddler bipolar disorder applies in this case. Quil growled at my comment but didn't directly say anything else.
How's patrol going, Seth? Has anything come up? Seth mentally shook his head.
Nope, nothing. So far, nothing to worry about. We divided in half and are covering more land. We haven't found any vampires or otherwise to worry about.
Okay, good. I'll be running for a few hours. I'd rather be left alone for the most part, but I'll let you know what to do if anything goes wrong. Got it Seth?
Got it, Boss. I rolled my eyes at the nickname. I ran all the way to Charleston, South Carolina. At least that was the last sign that I had seen. From what I heard from Seth and the others, nothing happened that was worth worrying about. About an hour after I hit Charleston, I decided I should probably get back. I saw a large clock tower in one of the towns I passed that claimed it was two in the morning.
I turned around and started running back. I wasn't sure if I was ready to face Nessie though. What she said had cut me to the core. Hitting below the belt I guess one could say. I had never claimed to own her or anything. I only wanted her to be safe, same as everyone else. I understood where she was coming from. She didn't like having to pretend to be something she wasn't. She didn't like hiding from people, she wanted to be out there and enjoy what the world had to offer.
I knew that. But we couldn't let her. It was too dangerous right now. When Bella had suggested that we let her go to high school in a few years when she was old enough and had grown enough to pass as a teenager, you'd think we were asking Edward to light himself on fire. Carlisle and most everyone else agreed with Bella. Rosalie was really the only one who took Edward's side at all, and even she didn't take much to convince otherwise.
If Nessie wasn't careful, she would wind up in trouble. I wouldn't let that happen. I would never let anything happen to her.
Maybe you should let her know that. It was Seth. I had been so deep in thought that I had forgotten that they were still listening. I got annoyed.
I did tell her that. She just looked at me like I had hit her. Seth sighed. Quil was the one to say something this time.
Well, she never heard you give her that tone of voice, Jacob. You have to admit, you were pretty harsh. I'm not saying that she was right or anything, Seth and I are just trying to say that you should tell her again, but in a much more agreeable tone of voice.
Yeah. I'm sure she feels horrible about this. And regardless of how much she's grown, she's still a child. She doesn't see things the way we do, she's too young.
What would you know about this sort of thing, Embry? You haven't imprinted on anyone.
Just because I haven't imprinted doesn't mean I don't know a thing or two about women.
Oh, right. Please share all your secrets with me Casanova.
Don't get mad Jacob, you'll only make it that much harder to stay calm when you get back to Jacksonville. I know you tend to think I'm an ignorant prick, but hear me out. Just say you're sorry. It works on Rachael every time. If I ever do anything wrong or if we ever have a fight, all I have to do is wait a few hours and then say I'm sorry.
I didn't do anything wrong!
Jacob, women and pride don't mix. You might think that you're not at fault, but she doesn't see it that way. I'm going to tell you the same thing that my dad told me, Jacob. You can either be right, or you can be happy. Happy men admit they're wrong even when they aren't. They're happy, because their woman has cooled down and is now happy too.
So just swallow my pride and say I'm sorry? Everyone agreed in unison. Okay. I don't like it, but I'll do it. Thanks a lot guys. Now get back on patrol. They all laughed before getting back to patrol. I knew I wouldn't like it, but that didn't matter. I would do anything for Renesmee. I loved that girl more than my own life. I needed her like I needed air. If it meant that she wouldn't be mad at me anymore and that she was happy, I'd walk barefoot through Hell and back.
It didn't take me as long to get back as it did for me to get to South Carolina. I got back by four in the morning. When I was outside the woods where I came in, I fazed back, got dressed, and started running for Jacksonville. When I finally reached the little yellow house, it was four forty five in the morning.
RPOV
I woke up that morning on my own. I heard a pan being clanked and a little talk going on between grandma and Jacob. I guess he got back. I didn't really want to face him right now. I still felt sick from what happened last night. I did need to at least get out of bed. I got up and went to my suitcase to pick out something to wear for the day. Grandma hadn't said I would need to be ready in anything in particular, so I could just wear whatever.
I settled on a pair of shorts, a green short sleeve shirt and a pair of green flats. Alice was obsessed with me in flats for whatever reason. I went to the bathroom in the hallway to do my morning routine. When I got back to my room, Jacob was sitting on the edge of the bed waiting for me. His eyes were apologetic and so was his smile. I hadn't noticed him walking up the stairs. I don't know how I could have missed it.
"How was your run?" It was the dumbest thing I could say, but also the only thing that came to my mind. He shrugged.
"I went all the way to South Carolina and back." I nodded my head, not sure what else to do. I hated being this way with him. We were never like this.
"That's cool." Jacob sighed heavily, then his face became serious.
"Can I talk to you for a minute? Renee went to the convenience store. She was out of orange juice." Jacob patted the spot on the bed next to him, asking me to sit. I walked over to the bed and sat down next to him. When I sat down, Jacob took in another deep breath.
"What did you want to talk about?" I didn't look at Jacob. I was staring at the floor, trying to memorize every indentation and every grain of the floor. Jacob inhaled deeply, trying to keep himself calm.
"I'm sorry." I looked at him. He was staring at the floor now too. "I'm sorry about last night. It's not my place to tell you what you can and can't do. It's not my place to snap at you or get angry at you. I hope I didn't hurt you at all. I really am sorry."
I didn't know what to say next. I knew Jacob. It took a lot for him to admit he was wrong, even with me. He hated being wrong and he especially hated taking the blame for something that wasn't his fault. What happened last night wasn't his fault. I was the one who had spoken out of turn. I'd hit him below the belt. He had every right to be mad at me.
"No." Jacob looked at me, his face looking defeated. I didn't want that look to curse his face. "It's not your fault. What happened last night was my fault. I said things to you that I shouldn't have and for that, I'm the one who should be sorry." I was tearing up again. Jacob took me into his arms and held me close. He rested his head on top of my head and kissed the top of my head.
"Please say that you're not mad at me anymore." I buried my face into my nook on his shoulder and shook my head.
"I'm not." I felt Jacob smile and he hugged me tighter. I smiled too. I felt as if a burden was lifted off of my shoulders. I didn't feel sick anymore. Now I felt like flying. Then, suddenly, Jacob stood up and took me with him. My feet were nearly two feet off of the ground and my head rested higher on his shoulder, but I was still tucked safely in my nook.
"I would do anything for you. You know that right?" I nodded my head into my nook.
"I know. I love you, Jacob." His heart rate accelerated a little.
"I love you too, Nessie. More than you know." We hugged for several minutes. It was a comfortable silence. The only silence that he and I should ever have. Then I heard the door open downstairs. "That's Renee."
Jacob rested me back onto my feet. He smiled at me one last time before walking out of my room and back downstairs. I followed behind him and saw grandma taking out the orange juice she had just bought.
"I hope you don't mind pulp. I couldn't find anything that was no pulp." Jacob chuckled and shrugged his shoulders. He was in a much better mood now.
"It's okay. I don't mind either way. Orange juice is orange juice right?" Grandma giggled and nodded her head in agreement.
"I suppose it is." Jacob finished his breakfast and I forced down a bowl of cereal. It was revolting. I think eating a box would have been more appetizing. But I didn't let her know that. Once we were all done with breakfast, grandma asked if we wanted to go to the beach today and take in some sun. I agreed and went up to get a bathing suit as soon as I did. Jacob and grandma did the same.
I found a bathing suit that Alice bought me that wasn't pink. It was an army pattern with little pink hearts in the corner. I two piece with a top that fit like a really small tank top. I put that on and put on my shorts on top of them. I went downstairs to wait for grandma. Jacob was already done. He was wearing a pair of blue jeans and no shirt and I could see the line of the swimsuit he was wearing. He was extremely tan and very muscular and he had his hair tied back, as did I.
"I didn't see that one." He pointed at the swimsuit I was wearing and we both laughed.
"This was buried under all the many pink ones." Jacob laughed.
"Why is Alice so obsessed with seeing you in pink lately?" I shrugged.
"She said it went nicely with my eyes or something." Jacob grinned and walked over to me. When he was right in front of me, he caressed my cheek with his thumb gently.
"Pink isn't the only color that goes nice with your eyes, you know." I giggled.
"Thanks for saying." I heard grandma's bedroom door open and close. Jacob grabbed the bag that she had given him earlier and took my hand. He walked a little closer to the door. Grandma came down in a blue one piece and a pair of jogging shorts.
"Did you both put on any sunscreen?" Jacob nodded his head.
"I have." I sighed. I hadn't thought of that. I wasn't sure if I was willing to risk getting burned. My skin sparkled like a vampire's but that didn't mean it couldn't still burn. And they looked so uncomfortable. I looked at Jacob, who then handed me a bottle of sunscreen. Grandma came over and got some for herself. Then she rubbed some on the spots I couldn't get myself and so on.
Once we were all screened, we walked to the beach together. The beach was really crowded and was filled with tourists and joggers and people with souvenir booths. The city was very pretty, especially with the sun out. Grandma didn't seem to notice the subtle sparkle that my skin took on. This relieved me and Jacob a little.
We picked a nice spot that hadn't been taken over by tourists and laid everything we brought down. Once we had everything settled, we took off the things we were wearing over our swimsuits and put them under the umbrella on the towel. Jacob and I ran to the ocean while grandma watched us as she soaked up the sun. Jacob and I splashed each other with gallons and gallons of water from the ocean and laughing the whole time.
After playing in the water, grandma asked if we wanted to make a sand castle. We made a large sand castle. Large enough that a lot of kids that were on the beach asked if they could help. With Jacob's help, we were able to make the sand castle five feet tall. The younger kids cheered for Jacob when he put a little leaf on top as the flag. Grandma was impressed with how detailed I was in the areas that I had worked on.
Eventually, grandma and Jacob got hungry and wanted to get lunch. Grandma took us to one of the many small food stands that surrounded the beach. She took us to a hotdog stand. Jacob got three hotdogs, all with plenty of sauerkraut for me to nibble on. Grandma was more of a mustard and relish sort.
Throughout the week, grandma had planned all sorts of things for us to do. She even rented water-skis and motor boats for us to ride. Jacob enjoyed the motor boat. He said it reminded him a little of his motorcycle. Grandma took us to see dolphins that we got to play with and a zoo in town that had a wide arrange of exotic birds. I loved them all. They were so breath taking.
"Jacob?" Jacob turned away from the parakeet he was looking at and looked at me.
"Yeah, Nessie?"
"Do you think momma and daddy would let me have a bird?" Jacob boomed his bass laughter. Everyone looked at him, but got back to what they were doing prior. I put my hands on my hips waiting for him to stop laughing. His laughter finally calmed down, and he answered me.
"I think they'd sooner give you an immortal child as a sibling." He laughed a little more, but more lightly now. He continued. "For starters, Nessie, Bella isn't very fond of birds. Secondly, even if they agreed to buy you a bird, someone in the house would eat it."
"They wouldn't eat it." Jacob playfully rolled his eyes.
"Eat it, drink it, same thing. And then thirdly, how willing do you think anyone is to cleaning up after it?" His cocky smile was aggravating me.
"I'd clean up after it." Jacob laughed.
"That's what your mom said when she tried to take care of goldfish, and we all know what happened to them." I rolled my eyes. Jacob chuckled lightly. "You can ask, Nessie, but I guarantee that Edward'll say no."
"What if I beg?" Jacob laughed again.
"Then you'll just make him mad. If you want to ask, ask once and live with the answer he gives you, okay Nessie. And watch, no one's going to disagree."
About two days before Jacob and I had to go back, Phil came home from Pennsylvania . He didn't question why I looked the age I did and grandma, thankfully, didn't tell him about my little gift. I had asked her to keep it a secret when I had shown her all my memories. Phil and Jacob ended up getting along royally. He even fixed a little engine problem that Phil's car was having, saving him a trip to the repair shop and at least one thousand dollars.
Jacob and Phil spent hours watching sports games and playing basketball in the backyard. Jacob usually won basketball, though. I joined them for a game on the last night we were in Florida . Jacob was ruthless with the ball whenever Phil had it. But when I had it, he just let me through. Phil eventually just kept throwing the ball to me.
"I think you have an unfair advantage." I said to Jacob. We were in my room and he was helping me pack a few things that I had taken out and some souvenirs we had gotten. He chuckled.
"What do you mean?" I gave him a fake scolding look.
"You have a good two feet advantage on Phil. It's no wonder he could never keep hold of the ball." Jacob laughed.
"Phil's 5'11", I'm 6'10". That's eleven inches difference, nothing he can't handle."
"And what about me? I'm only 4'10". That's exactly two feet difference." He chuckled again.
"I was never hard on you. I practically let you win." I couldn't help but laugh when he did this time. It was true. He opened his arms, motioning for me to come and give him a hug. I walked over, hugged him, and rested my head in my little nook.
"I still say you had an unfair advantage." His bass laugh was loud. I could hear it loud in my ears.
"If you say so, Nessie. Next time we play, I'll stay on my knees. Would that make you happy?" I started laughing this time. I gently smacked his face and he laughed too. That morning, grandma and Phil drove us to the airport four hours before our flight. It took them an hour to get to the airport. Once we were there, we went through customs. It was a lot more annoying in Florida.
Once we were done with customs, we found our gate and waited for our plane to arrive. Jacob and I called momma and let her know that we were at the airport and that we were on our way home. Luckily, thought Alice couldn't see us, she could determine when we would arrive at the airport. When the airport disappears from her vision.
The plane we were on this time only had two seats in each rows, so Jacob didn't have to deal with any of the other passengers while he took a nap on the plane. The movie selection wasn't very good, but at least we weren't having any trouble with any of the other passengers or their kids. Everyone was waiting for us at the gate when we landed. Momma and daddy were the first ones to greet me home. Momma gave me a hug and daddy hugged us both.
"How was your trip, Nessie?" I smiled into momma's hair and took in hers and daddy's sweet scent.
"It was a lot of fun. She took us to the beach almost every day." Everyone was coming closer to give me a hug. I was being passed around from family member to family member while I was talking. "She took us to see dolphins and I got to ride on them. She took us skiing and speed boating. I got to see Phil the last two days I was there and we all played basketball and stuff. I had a lot of fun." Everyone was laughing lightly at my excitement.
Daddy read Jacob's and my thoughts to get the entire trip and got a little angry when he heard about our fight. But he calmed when Jacob thought about how it was resolved. Then daddy laughed at another thought that Jacob had that I hadn't thought about since I had asked.
"You're not getting a bird, Renesmee." Everyone looked at me a little shocked. Emmett patted my head.
"Why would you want a bird, Nessie? They're not good for anything. They copy you, they shit everywhere, they clamor around in their cages all hours of the day and night, they live too long, the list of things wrong with them goes on." I rolled my eyes and faced Emmett.
"But they're pretty." Daddy laughed lightly.
"Oh, yeah, and that makes all the difference in the world."
"Just drop it, Emmett." Daddy looked at me now. "You too, Renesmee. You know why we don't have any animals. You have Jacob, that's enough." Everyone laughed, even Jacob. Jacob walked over to me and bent down to face me.
"What?" He smiled and chuckled lightly.
"You can always think of me as your pet dog. Everyone else already does." He glanced at daddy when he said that, but then turned his attention back to me.
"But you can't sit on my lap while I'm watching TV or reading or playing the piano." Jacob gave me an almost offended face.
"Please. Those stupid things are just rats that wish they were dogs." I gently smacked his shoulder.
"Lap dogs may be small but they're still dogs." Jacob laughed. Jasper, no my amazement, was the next one to talk.
"I'm sorry, Nessie, but I personally don't consider anything under fifty pounds a dog." Alice looked at Jasper.
"They are too dogs. They're very cute miniature versions of dogs." Jasper rolled his eyes.
"Alice, you just think they would look cute with your outfit." I laughed to myself. I knew she could hear me, but I wanted to keep my laugh as quiet as possible. No one else laughed quietly though. It was so something the Alice would do. Get herself a Chihuahua just because its fur matched her purse. Daddy laughed harder when he heard my thought.
Everyone was still talking about this when we got into the cars and drove home. Alice and Esme were saying that little dogs were cute and meant to be cuddled. Everyone else thought they were a waste of space and money and that there was no point in getting them because someone would cave and drink its blood eventually anyway.
Daddy and Carlisle finally just told everyone to drop the matter and change the subject. We just talked about mine and Jacob's trip and about how grandma and Phil were doing. When we finally got home, Jasper and Emmett took my suitcases and ran them to the cottage for me. Daddy put Jacob's bags in the rabbit, ready for him for when he left.
Alice of course wanted to see all the souvenirs that I got while I was in Jacksonville. She was disappointed that I didn't get clothes. I mostly got little tourist stand tidbits. We talked for hours about the trip, long enough that I was starting to get really tired.
"Let's take Nessie home, she's starting to get tired." Momma nodded at daddy and they nudged me gently to ask me to open my eyes and get off the couch. I opened my eyes and got off and so did Jacob. Jacob bent down and hugged me.
"Get some sleep, Nessie." I looked at him confused.
"Aren't you coming with?" Jacob looked remorseful as he shook his head.
"I can't. I have to go on patrol and let everyone know I'm back so we can go to our usual routine. Besides, I'm sure Seth would like a night off after all the extra time he's had to spend on patrol these past few days." I buried my face into my nook and nodded my head.
"I guess you're right. Tell everyone I said hi." I felt Jacob smile.
"I will. I'll see you tomorrow, okay." I nodded again and Jacob kissed the top of my head. "See you guys tomorrow." Everyone said goodbye, or mumbled goodbye, to Jacob as he walked to his car and drove away.
Momma, daddy and I walked back to the cottage talking to me about my trip again. When we were at the cottage, I went to my room to get my things out of my suitcase and went about my nightly routine. I changed into my pajamas and took out my rose comb headband. I went to put it in my jewelry box that was put back on my vanity.
When I opened my jewelry box, I noticed two things that I hadn't seen in a while. It was my locket that momma gave me for my first Christmas and the bracelet that Jacob had given me for my first Christmas. I had taken them both off because grandpa had taken me to a water park one summer and I just never put them back on. I remember daddy being really grumpy after Jacob had given me the bracelet. I never could figure out why.
I took the necklace and clasped it around my neck. Then I slid the bracelet onto my left wrist where it had been before. I went to my bed, and momma and daddy walked into my room to kiss me goodnight. When they left my room, I took my phone from my bed stand and found Jacob's number.
Happy to be home? I pressed send and waited for him to respond. I kept my phone on vibrate. Jacob answered me a few minutes later.
Ecstatic. Why aren't you in bed? I giggled.
I am in bed. I just felt like texting you. Is that so bad? Lol I waited another couple minutes before he answered.
No, not at all. I have to go out on patrol now. I'll see you tomorrow when I get off of work okay? And feel free to text me during work. It'll make my day. Night. I smiled.
I'll do that. Goodnight. He didn't answer after that. He probably went right on patrol after answering me before. I had missed my bed. It took me no time to fall asleep.