Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc, are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Chapter 4

Ultimatum

Jacob and Renesme stood in the front of the living room, looking over their family that was divided between the living room and adjoining dining room. Emmett seemed tense when Edward, Carlisle and I walked into the room and Esme looked at us with such pity I had to look away.

Jacob cleared his throat and began to speak.

"I have been a Cullen in name for over fifty years. I am honored to have been able to be a part of this family for double that. While time means little to immortals, I am still human, if only a little, and have recently started to understand time and the limits it puts on us." He took a deep breath, took his wife's hand, and pressed on. "It is no secret that I am aging. I now look like I should be Nessie's grandfather, instead of her husband, and even I am surprised when I look in the mirror. Not that I don't look good for 118, but even still." He smiled at this, trying to make a joke.

"For all the advantages that my slower aging has brought, now I am faced with the problems. My body is getting old, breaking down, and even Nessie cannot slow it. I am not just starting to age normally, it's happening at a break neck speed, and I don't know how much time I have left."

Jacob continued, eyes still roaming our faces, all, except for Edwards. "Nessie has been unhappy about the plans I have been making for her in anticipation of our…separation. She has offered an alternative and I have been unwilling to consider it until now."

"The thing is," Jacob started again, staring at Edward, clearly speaking to him alone, "that I have spent the last one hundred years giving this woman everything she has wanted. Most of the time, I have been frustrated that she has asked so little, but she has never been denied. For some reason that I can't understand, she is happy just being with me. I can't take away her happiness, which she thinks comes from me. Not when I can ask for your help in keeping me…here…with her…forever." Jacob looked down, as if spent from his speech.

"Wait. Jake? Are you saying you want to be one of us?" I sputtered the words out, looking from Edward to Jacob and back again.

"Yeah, yeah. I guess I am, Bella. " Jacob shrugged. I looked at Renesme, with so much hope in her eyes it was painful.

Carlisle interceded, "Nessie came to me a few months ago and asked if this was even possible. I have been trying to…"

Edward interrupted, furious, "Carlisle. You knew about this? My daughter comes to you with something of this magnitude and you don't tell me?"

"Edward, your daughter is my granddaughter, and I love her as I do all my children. I do not betray their confidences when asked." Carlisle smoothed.

I was still stunned, but managed to whisper, "Is it even possible?"

"I am not sure. I can't find any evidence that this has even been done. Because Jacob is a shape shifter, and his ability comes directly from his lineage and their response to our kind, what information is available may not apply to him. I have put together a few examples that may suggest it is possible, but it's all conjecture. " Carlisle replied.

Alice was silent, holding onto Jasper. I looked at her pointedly. "I can't tell you, Bella. I can't see him." She answered my question as if she was the mind reader.

"So, Jake, you want Carlisle to change you into a vampire so you can not die and be with her forever?" I asked stupidly, chewing on my bottom lip.

All movement stopped at my question. All eyes bore into Jacob, and there was no sound but Renesme's Humming bird heart, beating in half time with Jacobs.

"No. Not Carlisle, Bells." He paused, needing a moment to work up..the courage?

Renesme finished for him. "Not Grandpa, Mom…You."

Edward's roar, primal, protective, and overwhelmingly sad, drowned out anything that I might have heard.

I did not feel. I did not think. I was in a half place where some part of me knew I had been before, but could not place the time. I had a vague memory of a burn, as if I was trying to name the numbness, but it was gone before I could hold onto the label. I knew I was alive only because I saw the reflecting of my half self in the darkness of Edward's eyes.

It was Emmett that blocked Edward from me, picking me up before I knew it was happening.

"Let's go, little sister. I think it's time for a jog."

Rosalie looked pained, not boiling mad as I had expected when I saw her upside down face next to me as Emmett ran me out the door. I closed my eyes and was glad that at least I didn't have to worry about throwing up.

Emmett sailed through the forest near my old home, bouncing me up and down like a sack of oats over his shoulder. As the feeling started to return to my body the first sensation was not pleasant.

"Emmett. I'm fine. Can we stop bouncing through the forest?" I asked.

"What? I get no points for chivalry? Gee, Bella. You gotta throw me a bone here." Emmett laughed as he said it, swinging be back over his shoulder and setting me back on the forest floor. His eyes told me there was a hint of truth in his words.

I smiled at him, half heartedly, and threw my arms around his neck. "Emmett, thank you. I am so, so scared."

He bristled at my words, but held me tightly, picking me back up around my waist and setting me on a low tree branch six feet behind us.

"Alice will kill me. This moss will destroy this skirt, I am sure. "

"Ahh, she'll get over it. She wouldn't have wanted you to wear it twice anyway." Emmett snorted.

We sat in a comfortable silence, listening to the sounds of the cars passing by and the T.V. show on in a neighbor's home. No animals would come near us, even insects, but we listened to the sounds of them scurrying away and seeking out their next meal. I smelled a deer close by, and Emmett acknowledged it, but neither was in the mood for a snack. My mind was returning, however slowly.

"Bella. We can't hide from Edward for long out here, you know." Emmett said, easing me into conversation.

"I know. I wasn't running…or being carried" I smiled ruefully, "Away from him, I just…well, you know. You brought me here. " I hedged.

"I don't know how to fight targets I can't see, Babe. You and Edward seem to be in this battle with emotions and fate, right and wrong, duty and wants, I just don't understand. But I can tell when you're hurting, and getting you out of there seemed like the best thing for you at the time. " He said it as his right foot was squishing something into the ground. When he looked back at me, I saw so much honesty, I made a mental note to tell Edward to give Emmett a break.

"Emmett, I don't know if I understand this yet. I keep thinking this is a bad dream and I am going to wake up, which is especially strange considering how long it's been seen I've had a dream of any kind. " I raised my eyebrow, a habit I had picked up from Edward. "I can't thank you enough for being with me right now. It's enough to make me want to trip on something just to let you laugh at me."

Emmett roared with laughter, and agreed to walk back to the house with me. It was the same comfortable silence that surrounded us as we neared the forest edge.

"Are you ready for this?" Emmett asked tentatively.

"As ready as I am gonna be." I felt more like Isabella Swan, Arizona transfer, as I trudged up onto the patio than I had in a hundred years.

Emmett stopped me, just outside the front door. He looked into my eyes, putting both hands on my shoulders and said, as if the secret of life was about to be bestowed upon me, "Bella. For the record, don't change him unless it'll make him smell better. Jacob still reeks. "

The muffled laughter from inside carried into the forest.