Chapter 23

"Well she had made herself start forgetting by the time she was five and she started living like a normal kid. I taught her to ride a bike when she was 5 and she fell off so many times and scraped her knees and hands up. She never cried though. She always hopped right back on the bike and tried again," Jacob said as he was telling the Cullens about everything that had happened in his and Nessie's life. "It was so cute how determined she was to learn how to ride that bike. It was a little pink and white bike."

"Did you take pictures of her as she grew up?" Bella asked.

"Yeah I took lots of pictures. I wanted to capture everything that way I could show all of you if you did survive. I had always thought it was a very unlikely chance that you had but I still did it. They're back at the house."

"I would love to see them," Bella said.

"Let's go look at them," Edward said as he stood up. Jake and Bella stood up and then the rest of the Cullens also stood up. They all decided it would be best to drive to Jake and Nessie's house. Bella wanted her and Edward to ride with Jacob so he could continue to tell them about the life he and Nessie had had. Jacob got into the drivers side of his sports car, Edward squeezed into the back, and Bella sat in the passenger seat.

"So how long did it take her to learn to ride a bike?" Bella asked.

"It took her 2 days. By the time she had it down her knees and hands were all scraped up. In fact she has a little scar that you can barely see on her right knee from where a sharp rock cut her."

Bella smiled and looked at the pictures. "What's this one from?" she asked pointing to a picture of Nessie when she was about 6 dressed in a pink dress. She was holding a bouquet of flowers and had a little tiara on her head.

"Oh that one's from a pageant she was in. She had wanted to do it with some of the other girls her age so I let her. She got first place."

"Oh course she did. Bella's her mother," Edward said with a smile.

Bella gave Edward a smile then continued to look at the pictures.

"That's from her first day of kindergarten," Jacob said pointing to a picture of Nessie in a pair of shorts and a pale blue shirt. Nessie was smiling but you could see sadness in her eyes. Bella flipped through more pictures.

"This one was from her first play. She was 8. She played a little girl that brought her widow mother and her teacher together and it had a happy ending." Nessie had on a white sundress and she had her still brown hair in pigtails with pale pink ribbon wrapped around them. A big smile was on her face and the joy was even in her eyes. There was another picture where she was wearing the same dress and there was a man on one side of her and a woman on the other. The woman had dark brown hair and she had on a white blouse and a flowy pale blue skirt that went to about her knees. The man had black hair and he wore a pair of khakis and a white polo. The man and woman were each holding one of Nessie's hands and smiling at the camera. Bella felt a tinge of jealousy that these two people got to see Nessie at that age and got to act like parents to her when her and Edward did not. She was especially jealous of the woman for being able to act like Nessie's mother when Bella had been longing to be able to act like a mother to Nessie.

"This one was from when she was 13." Jacob pointed to a picture of Nessie in a purple two-piece. By that time she had started dying her hair so it was blond and it was straight. She was laughing as she stood on the beach.

"Where was this one taken?" Bella asked. 'It sort of looks like-' Bella thought.

"La Push," Jacob said interrupting Bella's thought.

"I thought so." Bella flipped the page and saw a picture of Jacob, Nessie, Quil, Embry, the rest of the werewolves as well as Emily and her niece Claire. Claire was then about 15 or 16. They were all smiling and laughing. There was a picture of Claire and Nessie goofing off in the water. Then there was a picture of Nessie with Billy. Nessie was dressed in a bright pink skirt and a white shirt. There was also a picture of Nessie and Claire. Nessie had on a pair of shorter white shorts and a light purple shirt sleeve shirt. Claire had on a light denim skirt and a light green short sleeve shirt. Nessie and Claire had their arm around the other one's shoulders and they had big smiles on their faces. Their eyes were sparkling from laughter and fun. Then there was a picture that Nessie hadn't known was being taken at the time. She was sitting on the driftwood at La Push. She wore a pair of jeans with a whole in the left knee, a peach colored tank over a white tank, and she didn't have her shoes on. Her brown eyes stared out over the water. The wind was blowing her hair back from her face. There was a dreamy look to her eyes as well as a look of sadness.

Bella took in a little breath. She pointed to the picture so Edward would look. A little smile played on his lips.

"Can we get a copy of this picture?" Edward asked Jacob.

"Of course. It's my favorite too," Jacob reached into the photo album and pulled a copy out from behind the picture. "I always hope we would see you again so I had copies of some of the best pictures made." Jacob handed the picture to Edward.

"Look at our little girl Bells," Edward said.

"She's so beautiful," Bella said quietly.

"That picture was actually taken earlier this year," Jacob said.

Bella took the picture and stared at it. "She'll come back won't she?" she asked Jacob.

"Of course she will Bella," Jacob said. "I know Nessie. She's just scared. She'll remember you and she'll be back. She just needs to be alone so she can figure everything out." Jacob pulled the note Nessie had left out of his pocket. He had seen it when he went to get the photos. "See," he said showing Bella, "she started to put Vanessa but scratched it out. She's already starting to remember."

"I hope you're right," Bella said. "Do you go to La Push often?'

"We try to go as often as possible. Part of that is so Nessie can feel like she belongs to a big family, which I know she loves, and the other part is that I hoped that by some chance you all survived and if you did that you would come back there so we could find you,' Jacob said as Bella continued to look through the pictures.

"But she doesn't believe in werewolves?" Emmett asked.

Jacob shook his head no. "They don't change in front of her."

"I would hope not!" Edward interrupted, thinking of the fact that he didn't want his daughter seeing anything. Bella, Alice, and Emmett all laughed.

"I don't want her seeing anything either," Jacob said with a laugh. He didn't have to read minds to know what Edward was thinking. "They also don't say anything relating to werewolves or vampires when she's around. They wanted to help her and make her life as uncomplicated and as normal as possible."

"I'm glad your friends accepted her so easily," Bella said. "I mean, since she is half-vampire."

"To them, she's just like Claire. In fact, Claire's the only friend that Nessie's always kept in touch with. The text each other, email, and talk on the phone. I know Claire will be glad when Nessie finally realizes that werewolves and vampires do exist."

"So Claire's her best friend?" Bella asked.

"Yeah. They're best friends."

"I'm glad Nessie has a best friend," Bella asked.

"Do you think she'll go see Claire?" Alice asked.

"Not right away, but Nessie will go to La Push," Jacob said.

Edward put his hand on Bella's shoulder. Bella looked up at him then back at Jacob. She knew that Jacob would know what he was talking about when it came to Nessie.