I walked down the stairs and paused when I saw Renesmee. Her hands tucked under her chin as she laid on the floor watched the falling snow outside the large window wall at the back of the house. She breathed in deeply and let her breath out in a huff. "Something wrong?" I asked as I walked up behind her.
She reached out and touched the glass with her hand. The heat of her skin left a foggy hand print on the glass. "It's the first snowfall of the season. Jakey always takes me out to play in it." She rolled onto her side to look at me. "When's he coming back? It's been 4 months, mom."
I sat on the floor next to her. "I don't know, honey. I wish I did. I wish I could bring him home, but I cant. Jacob has to do some thinking."
"But we're leaving soon. He has to come back and say goodbye, right?"
"We have 7 months. I'm sure he'll be back before we leave." But I doubt it. I didn't want to say the last part out loud.
Renesmee reached up to touch my cheek. "Liar!" Echoed through my mind. Renesmee turned away from me and rested her head back on her hands to look at the snow.
"Why don't you go ask Daddy to go outside and play. I'm sure…" Renesmee sighed loudly and my voice trailed off.
"Not the same." She moaned, and got up to walk away, leaving me sitting alone. I hugged my knees to my chest.
I watched her walk away, but she only climbed on the windowsill in the living room to look out that window.
"I think you need to go play. Your moping around like your some old lady. Where's Alyssa?"
"Outside with Uncle Emmett." Renesmee pointed out the window. I looked over her shoulder and saw Emmett in the middle of a snowball fight with Alyssa and Rosalie.
"Go out and join then."
"Don't wanna." Renesmee got up and went to walked passed me again. I followed her into the kitchen. Esme was making homemade chicken noodle soup for Alyssa and Renesmee for lunch. Renesmee climbed onto the counter to look out the window over the sink.
"Why do you keep walking away from me." My voice sounding more hurt than annoyed.
"Because I want to be left alone!" Esme turned to look at her wide eyed. Renesmee jumped off the counter and Esme went to go after her.
I grabbed her arm. "Let her go."
"Bella she shouldn't speak to you like that."
"I had the same stubborn attitude when I was her age. I'm going to deal with it the same way my mother did."
"How?" Esme asked sitting down at the table. I said across from her.
"Giving it right back at her. She wants to give me the cold shoulder, well my shoulder is even colder than hers." I got up and walked into the living room. Renesmee sat on the couch between Alice and Edward. She watched me walk passed them to the front door.
"Where are you going?" Renesmee asked me.
"Out." I answered her coldly.
"Out where?"
"I want to go play in the snow." I looked over to Edward. "Edward, would you like to join me?" Play along please.
"I would love to." Edward got up and walked over to me.
"Alice, Jasper?" I asked, and they both shrugged and got up.
"I want to come too!" Renesmee got off the couch, but I was in front of her before she could take a step.
"Nope, you want to be left alone, remember?"
"I changed my mind!" Renesmee went to walk passed me, but I stopped her.
"You can only go out and play if you smile for me." I knelt in front of her.
She hesitated for a moment, but my identical smile flashed across her face. I pinched her cheek. "That's my girl."
She reached out and touched my cheek. "Sorry."
"It's ok." I took her hand to meet the others outside.
"Amazing." Esme stood at the doorway to the kitchen.
"What?" I asked her.
"You! You've taken to motherhood better than I could have."
I rolled my eyes. "Please, Esme, you can keep a houseful of teenage vampires in line, and I can barely keep my 3, well 8 year old hybrid daughter under control."
"You just did it! In the matter of seconds you changed her mood. I have to threaten any one of you numerous times when you kids lose your tempers." Esme chuckled. "Go play with your daughter." Esme winked at me and she turned to walk back into the kitchen.
I helped Renesmee zip up her coat, and she ran ahead of me outside. She leaped lightly and landed on Edwards back. He stood up holding her in place, and turned his back on everyone. "Get her!" Edward closed his eyes as Emmett, Jasper, Alice, Rosalie, and Alyssa bent down to make a snowball. Renesmee screamed and hid her head as best as she could. They all threw the snowballs at the same time, and they melted almost instantly as they hit her back. Within seconds her hair was soaked, her ringlets now hanging straight down her back.
Edward let her go and she slid off his back, stumbling a little in the snow. He caught the back of her jacked before she fell face first. Edward looked over at me, laughed and shook his head. "You are your mothers daughter." He said when he looked back at her.
"Lets make a snowman!" Alyssa wobbled around in her snowsuit. She fell to her knees as she started patting together a snowball. "Lets make a contest out of it! Family against family. Alice go with Edward's family and Jasper come over here!" Of course Emmett would make it into a contest.
"Your on!" Edward held out his fist and Emmett punched it. "What kind of snowman do you want?" Edward asked Renesmee.
"Mom?" She asked me.
"Whatever you want. I don't know."
"I want to make a wolf, like Jacob."
"Figured." Edward groaned.
Be nice.
Edward narrowed his eyes at me, and then smiled. "Why, of course we can make a wolf." Edward said sarcastically, but Renesmee didn't catch it.
Not good enough, but it will do.
"Thanks." He fluttered over to me and kissed me.
"Come on!" Renesmee pulled at our arms. "They already started! Stop doing that!" She snapped.
Edward and I laughed.
"Ok, lets go!" Edward kissed me quickly before letting Renesmee lead him towards Alice.
"You going to blow me off the whole time?" I whispered to Alice.
She turned her head to hide a smile from me, but I caught it. I looked down and she clamped a snowball in her hands making it turn to ice. I reached in front of me and grabbed a handful of snow. I made sure to think of many different possibilities that I was going to do with it, so I would confuse her. It worked. She looked over her shoulder at me, but turned back quickly.
"Alice." Edward warned her through clenched teeth.
I got this. I thought to him, and he pulled Renesmee to the other side of the snow wolf's body to shelter her.
At the same time Alice turned and threw the ice ball at me I chucked mine at her. It hit her at the same time hers hit me.
"No way! You actually hit her!" Emmett bent over laughing as the ice crumbled off of her shoulder.
"Ok, you got me." Alice smiled as she walked over to me.
"Truce?" I asked as I held out my hand.
"Truce." She sighed and ignored my hand. Instead she wrapped her arms around me.
"Just visit as often as you can, please."
"It will seem like we never left." I promised her.
"Ok, lets win this thing!" Alice let me go, but took my hand towing me towards Edward and Renesmee.
We were carving out the eyes of the snow wolf when Edward grabbed onto my arm. His lips brushed up against my ear. "Take a whiff." He whispered so low no one else heard him. I looked at him confused. "Do it." He looked down at Renesmee as she patted the neck of the snow wolf.
I took a deep breath through my nose and gasped. Where? The same time I asked it I heard his heartbeat. I smiled widely when he came into view. He stood in the line of trees his bare chest moving as he breathed quickly. His hands in fists at his side.
"He came to see if we left yet. No one told him we were here until June. He's happy, not mad." Edward whispered into my ear. I grabbed Renesmee's shoulders and dragged her away from her snow wolf.
"Mom!" She wined. I reached down and cupped her chin jerking her face in Jacob's direction. He saw her first, and I heart his heart skip a beat. Quickly he looked up at me at the same time Renesmee spotted him.
"JAKEY!" She screamed at the top of her lungs and I let her go. She raced across the snow and he held his arms out just as she leaped into them. She wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms locked around his neck. "You left me!" She cried into his neck.
"I'm sorry." He said soothingly as he rocked her in his arms.
"I missed you." Her voice was muffled as she dug her face into his neck.
"I missed you too Munchkin, and I'll miss you when you leave."
"That's not for another 7 months." Renesmee picked up her head to look at him. "Where did you go?"
"I went running for a while, needed to clear my head." Jacob looked over at me, and Edward stepped behind me, wrapping his arm around my waist.
Jacob tried putting Renesmee down, but she scrambled to keep herself locked where she was. He held her close to him and walked over to me. Edward's arm tightened around me.
"Bella, I'm not sorry I left, but I am sorry I let you stay that close to me when I phased." He looked over my head to Edward. "I did push her away so I didn't hurt her. She would have landed perfectly fine if you didn't catch her."
"I know, just don't do it again." Edward warned. Jacob nodded swiftly.
"I'm glad I was able to say goodbye. I thought you had already left." Jacob said roughly.
"June." Edward told him.
"So I've been told. Well I wont stand in your way." Jacob peeled Renesmee off of him and put her on the ground.
"Where are you going?" She cried as she reached for him.
"I'll be around." He touched her cheek softly and she closed her eyes.
"Your leaving again?" I asked him.
He nodded. "I need to try and keep my distance, it will make it easier on me." Jacob backed away from Renesmee. She held her arms out for him, Jacob looked up at Edward pleading. Edward stepped around me and reached for Renesmee. She turned in his arms and buried her face in his shoulder. Her body shaking with the sound of her sobs. Jacob reached his arm out to touch her back, but curled his fingers in before he turned to me. "Keep her safe for me, and bring her back to me." With his hand still outstretched, he uncurled his hand to touch my cheek. "Miss you both already." He whispered.
I felt Edwards eyes burning into me, but I ignored him. "Miss you too, Jake." I whispered. He bent down and kissed my other cheek.
Edward growled.
"We will be back to visit as soon as we get settled." I promised him.
"Sure, Sure." He gave me my favorite smile. He turned back to Edward. "Hey, Ness."
She lifted her head and wiped her eyed dry. "What." She whimpered.
"Take care of your parents, will ya?" He smiled at her like she was some amazing rare jewel that he just found after years of searching for. It killed me to watch, but I couldn't look away.
"I will." Her voice cracked and she dug her face back into Edwards shoulder. His shirt already wet from her tears.
Jacob waited until her head was turned before he turned his back on us.
"Jacob!" Alice ran over to him. "We'll still be here. You know our door is always open. We can get a hold of them within a matter of seconds if you wanted us to."
"Thanks Shorty." He walked passed Rosalie and she leaped out of his way. "See ya Barbie." With that he took off running into the woods.