I sat back listening to the chatter around the house. This had to be a first in the history of vampires. Esme offered to host thanksgiving this year. She had invited Sue, Charlie, Leah, Seth, Emily and Sam were here with Jayden, Paul and Rachel, Billy, Quil and Claire were all here for the holiday. Only one important person was missing, Jacob. It was easy to see the pack was missing him terribly, but they all put on a happy face. Mainly for Renesmee, which made me grateful.
I was stuck between Billy and Emmett on the couch as they had a heated conversation about the football game on TV. I rolled my eyes and decided to go check on Esme and Sue in the kitchen. Since Emily was on the second floor with Leah putting Jayden down for a nap I decided to leave them alone. On the way passed the large window I glanced at Renesmee, Claire and Alyssa playing outside with Alice and Rosalie. The football game must be good if Quil and Seth were not outside with them. "Need help?" I asked when I walked into the kitchen.
"Sure." Esme turned to smile at me. She handed me a large bag of potatoes. "Peel these, and cut them up for me." I took the bag from her and sat down on the chair.
"Esme, the turkey smells delightful!" Sue said as she opened the oven door. It smelt horrible to me.
"Thank you. I hope it tastes as good as it smells." Esme chuckled.
"Not that you would ever know." Sue smirked.
I couldn't help but stifle a laugh. Esme reached behind her and squeezed my shoulder. I looked up at her and she winked at me, reminding me about our plans for later tonight. Renesmee was going to stay the night at Charlie and Sue's so all of us could go hunting for our own thanksgiving feast. Alyssa is going over Sam and Emily's because Rosalie refused to have Alyssa stay under the same roof as Seth.
"Where are you heading to tonight?" Sue asked. I was surprised at how comfortable she seemed talking about hunting with us.
"Not sure yet. Carlisle and I left it to the kids to decide, but none of them can agree on the same place." Esme looked back at me and I shrugged.
"Don't look at me! I already made it clear that I don't care where we go. It's really Edward, Emmett, Jasper and Rose arguing over where they want to go."
"Well, just be careful." Sue smiled down at me.
I smiled uneasily at her. "I will." It felt weird to have her try and mother me.
"Hey ladies, when's dinner?" Charlie asked as he ducked into the fridge to get another beer.
"About an hour." Esme answered him. He turned and reached over me for the bowl of chips. "You eating these?" He asked sitting the bowl under my nose. He laughed when I scrunched up my nose. "These used to be your favorite chips!" Charlie chuckled.
"Not anymore." I pushed the bowl away from my face. "They're all yours now."
"Hurry up with those chips Charlie!" Seth called from the living room.
"Or yours and Seth's. You might want to put some in a smaller bowl for yourself. He will eat them all on you." I laughed.
"Games back on!" Edward informed Charlie.
"On my way!" Charlie ran out of the kitchen and I heard him sit back down on the couch.
"What is it with men and football." Sue shook her head.
"No matter how long I live, I will never figure that out." Esme leaned over the counter laughing.
I smiled, but my attention was on my daughter playing outside. The three girls were playing some sort of tag. "Alyssa, easy… Ness watch your-" Rosalie was cut off by the sound of a loud thud.
"OW!" Renesmee's scream drowned out Rosalie and Alice's voices. I lurched to my feet and threw the potato I was peeling towards Esme. Edward and I reached the front door at the same time.
"What happened?" I asked when I saw Renesmee on the ground holding her knee.
"She's fine, just scraped her knee. They were playing on the rocks by the river and Renesmee slipped." Alice informed us. Edward knelt next to Renesmee and pulled her hand away from her knee.
"Just a scrape. You'll survive." He smiled at her.
"It hurts!" She said through clenched teeth.
"Come on." Edward sighed and Scooped her up in his arms. Once we were in the house I took her from him and carried her into the bathroom.
"She ok?" Charlie asked only looking away from the TV to glance quickly at Renesmee.
"She's fine." I said on my way passed him.
"Need help?"
"No, dad. I can put a band aid on a cut all by my self." I knew he was not liking the fact that she was bleeding and I was so close to her.
He didn't answer me.
"This might sting a little." I warned her before pouring the peroxide on her knee.
"OUCH! It stings a lot!" Renesmee pushed my hands away.
I reached behind her knee letting the cold of my touch ease the pain. I lifted her leg and blew onto her knee. "Better?" I asked when she relaxed.
"It doesn't hurt anymore!" She leaned back on the counter staring at me. "How did you do that?" She asked after I put a band aid over her cut.
"All mom's are magical that way." Charlie spoke from behind me. He was leaning against the door frame.
I kissed her bandaged knee and she smiled. "I'll say." She reached out for me, and I placed her on her feet. "Thanks mommy." She turned and Charlie stepped aside letting her pass him.
"What are you doing?" I asked Charlie as I cleaned up the bathroom.
"Just watching my daughter at work. You're a pro, kid."
"Thanks…" I turned to smile at him.
"So, the blood doesn't bother you?" Charlie asked nervously.
HA! "No, it's my daughter." My voice sounding annoyed.
Charlie shrugged. "Just wondering." He turned to walk back into the living room. Renesmee was lounging on Edwards lap, her head resting on his chest. I figured he wanted her to stay inside for a little while to give her knee a rest. Her eyes drooped, and soon closed. I went back into the kitchen to finish helping.
"Carlisle!" Esme called from the kitchen.
"What?" He called back.
"Can you please come cut the turkey for me. I have to set the table, Bella is finishing up the stuffing, and Sue is folding napkins."
"Hold on. Wait for the end of this quarter there is 1 minute left."
Esme rolled her eyes. "1 minute with football could mean an hour. He's not coming in here is he." She looked at me and I shook my head no. "You try."
"Edward!"
"It's your turn." I heard Charlie chuckle.
"Yes, my love." Edward called from his seat.
"Can you come in here please?"
"Renesmee is sleeping on my lap. I don't want to wake her up."
"Of course not." I mumbled. I knew he could hear me.
"Someone better get in here and cut this turkey before I serve it whole."
"Esme, we have wolves here. I don't think they would mind." I couldn't help but laugh. Sue joined in agreeing with me.
"Seth! Go." Edward told him.
"Why me?" Seth squeaked.
"Because you're the youngest here, and your mother is going to call you in there anyway."
"But the game-"
"Seth!" Sue called.
"Coming, mom." Seth huffed.
Once the turkey was cut, and I slapped Seth's hand 12 times as he cut a piece and tried shoving it in his mouth. "You know, since you're my sister now I can wrestle you to the ground and your husband wont do anything about it." Seth shook the turkey leg in my face as he spoke. I snatched it out of his hand before he brought it to his mouth.
"I'd like to see you try." I jumped out of the way when he leaped towards me.
"Give me the leg!" Seth leaped towards me again.
"Nope! Wait for dinner."
"Children." Charlie warned. He walked into the kitchen just as Seth leaped one last time and caught my leg. We were both tangled on the ground. My hand stretched over my head with the turkey leg. Seth knelt over me trying to reach for it.
"Dad tell him to stop!" I flipped over on my stomach and tried crawling away from him.
"I find this quite entertaining." Charlie folded his arms across his chest. "So you happy you were an only child… till now."
"Yes, and I thank you for that." I shoved Seth off of me and he growled. "Aww poor little puppy hungry?" I teased.
"Ok, ok guys lets eat shall we?" Sue stood between us. I followed Seth into the dining room and took my seat between Edward and Renesmee. Even though some of us didn't eat we still sat around the table and talked with everyone.
"Mom can I have more?" Renesmee pushed her plate towards me.
"What do you want?" I asked, taking her plate.
"More mashed potatoes and gravy." I passed the plate to Edward since to potatoes were on the other side of him, and he gave her a few scoops. He passed it back to me and I gave her some gravy.
"This is your third helping. How much more can that tiny body handle?" I asked after I placed the plate back in front of her.
"This is good!" She said with her mouth full.
"She must be growing again." Edward looked at Carlisle across the table.
"Sounds about right. She's around that age." Carlisle said calmly. Edward relaxed next to me.
"Wow that was absolutely amazing!" Quil leaned back in his chair and patted his stomach.
"Yes, excellent dinner Mrs. Cullen." Sam leaned back and put his arm around the back of Emily's chair.
"Glad everyone enjoyed it." Esme looked around the table. Her face more than pleased.
"That's for sure." Charlie wiped his mouth clean with a napkin.
After dinner and dessert everyone started leaving. "I'll see you tomorrow afternoon, Bells." Charlie hugged me goodbye.
"If you need anything call me. I'll have my cell phone on me the whole time." I said holding Renesmee close to my chest.
"I thought Edward was the paranoid one." Charlie chuckled.
"Funny Charlie." Edward came up behind me and took Renesmee out of my arms.
"Just stating the facts, son."
Edward was too busy hugging Renesmee goodbye to say anything back to Charlie.
"Please, please be a good girl, and listen to your grandfather." Edward pleaded with her.
Renesmee hugged his neck and kissed his cheek. "Promise!" Renesmee leaned away from Edward, reaching towards me. I hugged her and placed her on the ground. She stood between Leah and Seth. They both reached down and took her hands.
"We will be there all night. She will be fine." Leah slapped my back.
"Thanks guys." I followed them out on the porch. Renesmee turned in the middle seat blew a kiss and waved out the back window as Charlie drove away. Edward and I blew her one back and waved until the car was around the corner.
"So where to?" Edward asked when he towed me back into the house.
"First you boys, in the kitchen and clean up." Esme pointed at Edward, Jasper and Emmett.
"We didn't even eat." Emmett wined.
"Bella and I didn't eat either, but we still made dinner." Esme crossed her arms across her chest and Emmett was on his feet.
"Come on guys, I want to get going." Emmett lead the way into the kitchen with Edward and Jasper close behind him.
"I'm guessing you kids haven't agreed where you want to go. It's 7:00, time is ticking." Carlisle said from the recliner. Esme walked over to him and he pulled her onto his lap. I walked over sitting between Alice and Rosalie.
"I still say we go to the Amazon and hunt us some anaconda's!" Emmett called from the kitchen. "I want to see how Bella does with one." Emmett laughed. I heard a loud thud and Emmett cursed. It was Edwards turn to laugh.
"We should stay around here. Stay close to Alyssa and Renesmee." Edward voiced his opinion.
"No, I want to go up Mt. Everest!" Rosalie pouted.
"If you don't decide within the next 10 minutes we're going to hunt rabbits in the back yard, and you each get one." Carlisle shook his head.
"That's not fair, Bella and I don't care where we go. We should be able to hunt whatever we want." Alice chimed in.
"I agree." I added.
"The Amazon doesn't sound so bad after all." Jasper said as he walked out of the kitchen.
"That's it! 2 for the Amazon, and Alice and Bella's vote goes with it too. So that's 4." Emmett punched the air.
"Why does their vote count for that?" Edward asked him.
"Because they don't care where we go, and I called their votes first! Relax bro, you can hunt some jaguars. It will be fun! Come on guys, lets get a move on!" Emmett was out the door before anyone could move. "South America, here we come!" We heard him yell into the night.