Renesmee's POV

Chapter 13

I took in another sharp breath. Carlisle was running multiple tests on my children, just five days after their birth. They were fast asleep as Carlisle poked and prodded at them, hooked them to machines, and occasionally stuck them with a needle. I couldn't watch most of it.

I clung to Jacob's side tightly. His face was solemn and concentrated on Carlisle's work. When I flinched or started breathing hard he would hold me tighter and gently rub my back. Finding out just exactly what my children were hollowed a nervous pit in my stomach. I mean, I would love them either way, no matter what they were, but I still was fearful.

I watched the sleeping angels in the cold, confined beds. Their faces were beautiful and peaceful and only flinched slightly when Carlisle jabbed them with a needle. My face turned horrendous when Allysen began to wake. She already had a good set of lungs, so giving her something to cry about never ended well.

Carlisle gave one good jab and that was it. Her deep brown eyes widened in pain, and she opened her tiny mouth to shriek. She let out such a bloodcurdling scream that I couldn't help but rush to her side and comfort her. Carlisle had a remorseful face and muttered, "I'm so sorry, Allysen!"

She cried and cried until Jacob began talking to her. He soothed her and sang some. She stopped and stared at her remarkable father. She slowed her sobs and gently fell back asleep. Jacob smiled wide. I knew he would be a good dad. We all heaved a sigh of relief as her petite chest started slowly moving up and down.

Carlisle took off his examining gloves and tossed them into the trash bin. He stepped to the sink and washed his hands. He then took a seat at his desk and asked Jacob and me to join him.

"Jacob, Nessie, I have the tests right here. I will evaluate them and sometime today, I can tell you exactly what your children are," he explained quietly. He obviously didn't want to wake the babies again. "You are free to take them downstairs now."

I hugged him and told him thank you. Jacob gave his manly-show-no-weakness head nod and followed me to the twins' tiny hospital cribs. He carefully helped me pull the wires and such off them. Once they were cleaned, Jacob picked up Allysen, careful not to wake her, and I took Rachel. Rachel had slept all through the tests. She still was conked out in her little purple dress. Of course, Alice had picked out their entire wardrobe.

The entire family was downstairs in the living room watching TV. Dad had his arm casually wrapped around Mom. Alice had her head in her hands and quietly groaning, and Jasper silently comforted her. She had called us "The Family of Headaches" earlier. Rosalie and Emmett were sitting in the floor, enveloped in the television show playing. They all looked and smiled at us with the twins as we came downstairs.

"How'd it go?" Mom asked pleasantly

"Good, for the most part. Allysen woke up near the end, but Carlisle didn't realize it. He poked her one last time with a needle, and it was downhill from there," I explained. They all made disgusted faces as they found out the bad ending. They all knew how incredibly loud Allysen could be.

"Before I forget, Jacob, later on today some of your pack buddies are coming over to see the twins," my father informed. He didn't seem too incredibly happy. Dad never grew on to the rest of the pack very well.

"Who exactly?" Jacob questioned. He looked suspicious.

"I think Quil, Embry, Seth, and maybe Sam. Seth wasn't specific when he called," he responded, still watching the TV. Oh I hoped Sam wasn't attending this little gathering. He and Jacob never really had good ties after the whole pack splitting up way back when. I didn't want them fighting around the babies.

"Hmm," Jacob murmured. He looked a little troubled. I felt empathy rising in me, so I pulled him over to the seat next to me. I offered Rose and Emmett to hold the twins for a while. They eagerly accepted and began humming to them and rocking them.

Jacob wrapped one of his big arms around me. I nuzzled into his side and whispered, "What's the matter, Jacob? Do you not want the pack to come?" He kissed my head then pushed me away enough to speak face to face.

"It's not that. I just don't want any fighting, that's all. I don't mind Seth, Quil, and Embry coming over, but Sam is questionable," he elucidated.

"Don't' worry about it. Sam is understanding enough not to cause any trouble right after this," I reassured and pointed to the twins. He nodded. He relaxed back into the fluffy sofa and pulled me back, too. He had his arm around me, and I was curled up into his side. I grimaced just a little when I pulled my knees up. I still was a tad sore from the twins' arrival. I eventually got so comfortable, though, I actually got into the TV show playing. I usually wasn't that into television; I never have been. I was feeling a bit drowsy, and feeling my eyelids droop when Carlisle marched down the stairs. I immediately became alert. My gut sank a few inches. This was it. The test results were finished.

"Jacob, Renesmee, can I ask you two to come upstairs with me?" he asked casually. Jacob and I exchanged glances and stood up to follow Carlisle to his office. I didn't know why I was so nervous.

***

Jacob and I were seated in Carlisle's office chairs right beside each other. I squeezed Jacob's hand tightly in anxiety. He whispered, "Calm down, Ness. Everything will be okay."

I took a deep breath and studied Carlisle as he examined the data from the tests. He gave one last run through of the documents and laid them on the desk in front of him. He took an unnecessary breath in an attempt to prepare himself.

He cleared his throat and began his synopsis. "Well, I am not really sure what you prefer or want your children to be, so I cannot say if this is good news or bad news."

"Just tell us straight out, Carlisle. We can handle it," Jacob replied confidently. I could still tell he was a little nervous as well.

"Very well then," Carlisle began. "We'll start with Allysen's tests results." He pulled out a large Manila folder. "Judging from all the experiments and tests, I think it is safe to say that Allysen is pretty much just like Renesmee."

An unexpected tide of relief washed through me. Did I want them to be like me? Immortal and young forever? I thought I had an exceptional life, so why not? Carlisle studied her files repeatedly as if there was more.

"Let's see here. Yes, I am almost positive, actually," he confirmed. Then he began to quickly sketch out what looked like a Punnett Square. "Look here. Here is a very condensed diagram of Allysen's genes for her, well, I suppose you would call it species. As you can see, you both passed on the trait of human, but you also passed on the immortality gene. Jacob, since Allysen is a girl, she couldn't inherit the shape shifter genes, so she received the immortal portion of the allele. I have found that immortality is the dominant allele in genetics and human is recessive, so Allysen's genotype would look like Hh, H being immortal allele and h being human allele. Do you understand?"

Of course I did. This was simple genetics. I had been taught this long ago during a home school lesson, courtesy of Carlisle and my father. I understood this, but what worried me was Rachel's tests. How would they turn out? I nodded to Carlisle in comprehension and Jacob did as well.

"I suppose Rachel's results come next?" Carlisle asked, already pilfering for Rachel's results.

"Yes," I answered solemnly.

"Okay," he said pulling out another large Manila folder. He intently read and reviewed the documents to himself and finally laid them in the same place as Allysen's sat. "Well, it looks to me like Rachel's genotype is practically identical to Allysen's, which is odd for fraternal twins. She's just like Nessie as well."

Suddenly it felt as if a giant weight had been lifted off of my shoulders. I could breathe once more after knowing this key part to my girls' life. I still had questions, though.

"Thank you so much Carlisle, but do you mind me asking a question?" I pondered.

"Of course not, Nessie. What is it?" He asked, prepared to answer my inquiries.

"Well, will they grow like I did? I mean, mature at an advanced pace?"

"I think that they won't be as quick to mature like you. The two human genes hidden in their DNA slow the process down. They might mature faster than other children, but not like you by any means. They grow almost at the same pace as normal children." He responded.

"Alright. Thank you Carlisle. Jacob, do you have any questions?" I queried, looking into his almost blank eyes. I guessed he was still soaking all this information in.

"Yes, actually I do," he began. "When do they stop growing? At what age, exactly?" His eyes were questioning.

"Eighteen. Approximately the age Renesmee's outward appearance is," he answered simply. "Is that all the questions?"

"I think so, Carlisle. Thank you very, very much," I kissed him on the cheek, and Jacob cracked and mustered a hug.

"Your very welcome," he countered. With that, Jacob and I stood up, still holding hands, and rushed down the stairs to tell our family. It hurt to run, so I was pulled by Jacob most of the way. When we reached the living room, the TV was off and the attention was directed towards the twins who were now awake.

The babies were playing to a level newborns could with Emmett, Rose, and Mom. Alice was still battling a migraine while Jasper comforted her. My dad was off in the kitchen grabbing bottles for the twins. They didn't drink blood as much as I did as an infant, but they did take milk and formula like normal children. They could drink blood, and they could eat human food. It really all depended on their cravings. Right now they must have been craving milk because Dad walked in the room with two bottles full of cold milk. He walked on past us to Rachel and Allysen to give them their anticipated food. They fed instantly and relaxed in the nearest person's arms. Allysen was in Emmett's and Rachel was in Mom's. I smiled at Emmett. I had never seen this fatherly side of him. It was sweet to watch him encourage Allysen to keep eating and hold the bottle for her. As they were drinking, my father started the discussion.

"So what's the verdict?" Everyone turned to us. Even Mom and Emmett who still held the twins.

"Well," Jacob began, "basically they are like Nessie. Except they grow at a normal pace until age eighteen and then they freeze."

People nodded and gave out some "Hmm's." They acted like this piece to our daughters' lives was trivial. Maybe I was just making this a big deal. But I didn't care. I was fully satisfied with knowing how my children would grow and live.

Jacob and I decided to take a seat and play with the twins, too. We took a seat next to Emmett and my mother and relaxed for the time being.

***