A/N: Sorry if I have been in a funk lately but it has nothing to do with any of you guys. I wanted to thank you all for your support.
Danielle, you are amazing, thank you so much.
And a special thanks to Mommiebird. This chapter is dedicated to you because of what you said to me. I can't tell you how much I appreciate the words that you have said.
Okay so after the long wait here is chapter 31. Enjoy.
Ross' Point of View
Ever since I found out what Renesmee and her family really were the only thing that I had been hearing about was the Volturi. They were supposed to be the protectors of the
vampire world but were sometimes looked upon as the enemy. When you do something wrong and they are there to rectify the situation then they would be thought of as the enemy.
However in the situation that they were in it was easy to understand why the Cullens were so frustrated with them.
They had taken aggressions out on each other and no matter what the reasoning taking innocent peoples' lives was not right. Once they were reined back together again they decided
that the Cullens must be taken care of so they kidnapped Ann's brother to provoke them. The Cullens had been expecting a fight for a long time but now that the time was creeping up on them the atmosphere seemed to change.
After all of our Christmas celebrations and the welcoming back of old friends it was time for them to get down to business. I tried to keep myself busy by putting away all my things in Nessie's room. Well it was our room now but the girl didn't know how to share. I wedged a few of my nice clothes into her monstrosicity of a closet and the rest of them went into the dresser drawers.
I hung up a few of the art pieces that we had gotten as Christmas gifts and arranged the rest on the tops of the dressers. I tried to arrange them the way that she would have but for some reason nothing was working out. I found the solution by putting a picture of us in a frame in the middle of the dresser. Now it looked perfect and I was hoping that she would like that. It took me the entire day to do that and when I smelled dinner being cooked upstairs I was happy. I didn't know if I was constricted to the basement or if I was allowed to go upstairs. To be honest I was quite afraid of these other friends that the Cullens had invited. Meeting Tanya and her family had been okay but to be honest I was still a little afraid of Aedan and Camden.
Those two were the newest to their lifestyle but they had been doing well from what everybody had been telling me. Neither of them had strayed once from animal blood. Oh jeez, what had I gotten myself into? Was I going to be one of them sometime in the future? If I wanted to stay with Nessie I guess that is the road that I would go down. I guess being a vampire and feasting on blood was better than losing her. I had already lost her once and I didn't like the idea of that. If I was forced to be a sleepless immortal then that was the case.
I tried not to think of what my family was going to be going through in less than 24 hours. Nessie would be leaving with 41 other people. Did the Cullens have their own plane or did they just buy out every ticket on the plane? I would think that would be the best answer anyways so that way there were no humans in harm's way. They really should just get their own plane, they could afford it anyways.
I spent the entire night wide awake. Nessie slept soundly in my arms but I wanted to memorize every single piece of her. I memorized her gorgeous face, her plush lips, the color of her amazing bronze hair, her eyelashes, the color of her cheeks and every other little detail that I never wanted to leave my mind. I was so worried about what was going to happen because I didn't want to lose any member of my family. I had lost my mom years ago and my brothers were away at college and my dad could care less about me. I actually felt like I belonged here, next to Nessie and the rest of her family.
That night was the worst of my life so far but that was the thing…so far. I knew that the next few nights without any contact with her were going to be the hardest of my life. Hopefully I would be able to keep myself distracted, possibly school or maybe I would pick up a hobby. I'm sure that little Annie would keep me a little busy. I tried not to think of things that I would be thinking in the next hours when she wasn't safely by my side. I nuzzled her in closer to my chest and she smiled in her sleep. I loved it when she did that, which I realized was quite often during the night.
Every single time that I pulled her closer to me or ran my fingers through her hair or kissed her forehead the edges of her mouth would curve up, kind of like a crooked smile. It must have been something that she got from Edward because I had been noticing he did that too. The rest of them had stayed outside when it was time for the humans or part humans to go to sleep. I heard rustling outside but nothing that was too bad. I wasn't going to sleep anyways.
I didn't want the night to end because I wanted to stay there for the rest of my life, with Nessie sleeping soundly in my arms. I wanted everything to be okay and for all of us to be safe. I didn't realize until this moment that I would be in danger too. If they could go and take Josh away from his home because he knew the secret what would prevent them from doing the same thing to me while they were away?
I figured that they would have all hands on deck for the battle but that meant little to me at all. I was still afraid that something would happen to me but the Cullens would never let anything like that happen. I knew that they had powers on their side, from what I understood. At dinner we all talked about their powers and I realized that maybe we actually had advantage. But that was all just wishful thinking on my part. It was my pipe dream for everything to be okay.
But the thing about pipe dreams was that they didn't always come true. For the most part they were the impossible dream but I didn't want to think of it that way. I had little time left and every moment that I could watch her I would. I needed her to be okay because if she wasn't I didn't know what I would do.
I wanted to marry her, I knew that already. We had only been together for a few months but I knew that I wanted to marry her someday. I would purpose now and whisk her off to Vegas to get married but I knew that wouldn't solve any of the problems that we ahead for the Cullens and their friends. I wanted her to be Mrs. Anderson and she would be someday.
The sun was starting to rise and I could see sunlight coming through the window. How funny was the fact that the weather was the exact opposite of my mood? I wanted there to be thunderstorms and downpours to fit my mood but of course even Mother Nature couldn't grant me one wish. It seemed like that was the only thing that was going to happen, me not getting anything that I wished for.
As Nessie started to stir in her sleep I began to wake up to, to the possibility of things to come. I needed to get my mind off of everything while they were gone. I needed to pick up some kind of hobby where I couldn't think of anything but what I was doing. I needed something to fully distract me.
I kissed Nessie's forehead and she slowly opened her eyes. I smiled at her and she smiled back. I wanted to stay here forever. I wanted everything to be okay and at least the relationship that we had with each other wasn't going to go away.
"Morning," she said groggily.
"Morning baby," I said kissing her on the lips.
"How did you sleep," she stated sitting up against her headboard and running her fingers through her hair.
"Not at all."
"Are you kidding me? Ross you really needed to sleep."
"No you really needed to sleep and I was having a better time watching you sleep."
A blush crept across her cheeks and she was smiling uncontrollably. I loved that I could make her blush like that. I loved her whenever she would let her emotions come across her face but I had been told it was a trait from her mom.
"You watched me sleep the entire night," she stated embarrassed.
"Yes I did. I didn't want to miss one moment with you."
"I love you, do you know that?"
"I love you too Ness. Now you should probably get ready. They have been outside all night."
"Figures," she muttered under her breathe before giving me a quick kiss and heading off to her closet. I sat on the bed and finally felt the effects of a sleepless night. I quickly collected myself and stood up for the first time in what seemed like forever. I stretched out quickly before heading upstairs. I knew Nessie would be up in a minute anyways.
"Wait a minute Ross," I heard Edward yell to me. I stopped dead in my tracks because I was yet. I still had too much to live for as a human. I couldn't make that decision yet.
I heard Edward laugh and then tell me I could come out. I forgot about the whole mind reading thing.
"Hey Edward," I said sitting down on the couch that was pushed up against the wall. I looked down at my hands trying not to make eye contact with him.
"Why don't you want to make eye contact with me," he stated sitting a little too close to me.
"I'm not making eye contact with you because I don't want you to know everything."
"Well that is impossible, mind reading thing," he stated pointing to his head. "I was wondering if you and I could go for a little bit of a drive. There are some things that I want to talk to you about."
"Umm, okay," I hesitated. Now this was going to be awkward.
We left quickly without saying goodbye to anybody. It was strange that he wanted to talk to me alone because we had never done that. I was really hoping that this wasn't some speech about the virtue of his daughter. I never ever wanted to have that conversation with somebody, especially Edward.
We pulled up to the sides of the woods a few miles away from the house. We got out of his BMW and started walking around. The snow on the ground was only about an inch deep but I wished that I couldn't get cold. Maybe I should have lived somewhere that didn't snow.
"If you lived somewhere where it didn't snow then you would never have met Nessie or any of us for that matter."
"You really need to stop answering my thoughts. It kind of creeps me out."
"It creeps a lot of people out but after a few decades you get used to it."
"So why did you want to talk to me so badly?"
"I just wanted to talk to you about what is going on. I want to make sure that you understand what is at stake with the fight that we are going to have."
"I completely understand. I have been dealing with the possibilities of what could happen to you guys, especially to Nessie. She isn't as indestructible as the rest of you."
"This is why I am going to try my hardest to keep her and Bella safe. It seems a little too heroic to protect my wife and daughter but I couldn't imagine my life without either of them. I just wanted to let you know that if something were to happen to me I am sure that Nessie is safe with you. I want you to take care of her."
"You sound like a dead man Edward. Is that really going to happen? Do you think that you will get killed?"
"I'm just trying to come up with every possible outcome. I want to make sure that she is taken care of because Bella and I will try our hardest to make sure that nothing happens to her. I just want her to be safe and I want to make sure that she is taken care of. That is every parent's greatest fear is to have their child left with nothing if something were to happen to them," he stated sadly. I wanted everything to be okay because Edward and Bella were a big part of my life, not only Nessie's. It would be hard for me if something happened to either of them. He ran is fingers through his hair and then continued talking. "We have plenty of accounts set up for you and for her. I want you to know that we all care about you and have welcomed you into our family. You are part of us now and when the time comes for you to make the big decision we will support you. You will do wonderfully in our world."
"So you are giving me permission to become a vampire," I questioned.
"When the time is right," he corrected. "After high school is done with would probably be the best time. That is if you want this life. I had objections when Bella wanted to be part of this world but it turned out for the better. And when you and Nessie decide to take that step in your relationship then we have no problem granting your wishes. She is not fully grown yet but she will be soon. Once you both reach that maturity I want you to come to me. If I am no longer here I give you permission to ask her to marry you, to become a vampire and to take care of her."
"But what about the rest of the family? You can't think that something is going to happen to every one of them?"
"It's hard to guess what will come but I just wanted you to know that we are all here for you. It's your decision to make and I want you to do what makes you happy. I want Nessie to be happy and that means being with you. I just want you to take care of you."
"I promise that I will do everything in my power to make her happy. I want nothing more in this world."
"That's probably a good thing. I just wanted to thank you Ross. I could think of no better person to be my son then you."
I wanted to cry but I knew that wouldn't be the masculine thing to do. I needed to be strong and stay strong for Nessie sake and for my own. I needed to find something to distract me from what was going on.
"You just had a great idea," Edward stated wrapping his arm around my shoulder and leading me to the car. "I think it would be great for you to do that."
"Do what," I asked.
"Ride a dirt bike. Come on, we'll go get you one right now."
"But what about the snow?"
"It's a thing called snow tires. We'll get one and I'll ride it back to the house."
"Umm okay."
I didn't even remember thinking about my old bike. All I could remember about it was that it kept my mind off of everything else in my life. When my mother died all I did was ride that thing because I didn't think of anything but the trail that was in front of me. When my dad and I moved I left my bike at home because I didn't want it as a reminder. But now that all of this was going on I needed it to distract me. I needed something to do.
When we pulled up to the Yamaha dealer I felt like a little kid at Christmas. Edward and I exited the car and walked through the doors. The heat was welcoming and the place was beautiful. Everything in there was bright and shiny, even the floor tiles. We looked around for a little while at the different makes for dirt bikes. Surprisingly Edward knew a lot about them. He knew the weight distribution and the intake manifolds. I didn't even know that much because my parents had just bought me a used Kawasaki from a buddy of theirs.
It was nice to be able to pick out the bike that I wanted. I sat on a bunch of them trying to get a feel for them. The sales man was extremely nice to us, probably because they didn't get much business in the winter time. I ended up picking out the Yamaha YZ250F. It was a four-stroke bike and big enough to handle me. The weight seemed to balance just right and there were a lot of new features on the bike I could care less about.
After I got the bike Edward suggested that I needed to get all of the gear to go with it. Leave it up to him to get me almost every piece of protective gear that there was. A new helmet, chest protector, boots, goggles, pants and a jersey. I couldn't believe that he was willing to spend this much money to just keep me distracted.
"Are you kidding me? This is nothing. Alice does more damage than this at the mall in 1 hour. Plus if you think about it my car is almost $300,000. Don't worry about this."
"But you already bought me a car. Now I feel selfish."
"Well between this and your car it equals out to be about a third of my car. It's going to be well worth it though. Now come on."
We brought up our things and Edward handed the guy a credit card.
"Your total comes to $10, 277.16."
"That's perfect," Edward stated coolly while I was about to have a heart attack on the ground. Ten thousand dollars! That is absolutely ridiculous.
"Do you need it delivered," the salesman asked handing back the card to Edward.
"No I think we will be okay with taking it today. We've got it all set."
"Well if you need anything please come and visit us again."
"We will do that. Thank you very much."
Edward and I carried out my things and put them in the trunk of the BMW. He went back inside and grabbed the bike. He pushed it out into the woods and threw it over his shoulder.
"Just drive home Ross I will see you there."
"I thought you were driving it home."
"No, it's not registered. Last thing that I need is to be in jail before we are supposed to go to Italy. I will meet you back there okay."
"Thank you," I stated sheepishly.
"You're welcome. I will see you later. It will be in the garage all ready to go."
And with that he took off into the woods with a bike that would have crushed me thrown over his shoulder like it was nothing but a sack of potatoes. I climbed into the car and adjusted the heat and the seat before heading off towards home. I picked up a little bit of breakfast on the way home. I stopped and sat inside, afraid to eat in Edward's car. After I was finished I headed back towards the house.
When I got to the end of the driveway the garage door was open and I pulled his car into the empty spot. Sure enough my bike was there just behind my car. Man this family did way too much for me. I took out all of the gear from the trunk and brought it over to the mechanics garage. Afterwards I went back and got my bike bringing it over to where my gear was. I closed the door and changed in the garage, afraid to go inside. Only a few 100 yards separated me from vampires and I couldn't have been more petrified.
I pulled my pants on over protective padding and then pulled the boots on afterwards, locking them up so they were snug on my legs. I put the jersey on over my long-sleeved white shirt and then the chest protector on top of that. My helmet came next and finally the goggles. I had never had all of this gear when I had ridden. I usually just wore an old jersey with jeans and contractor boots. I did have a helmet but it had been my dad's and they sprung for new goggles. I looked in the mirror and I looked like a professional. Now only if I could remember how to start the damn thing.
I got onto the bike and kick started it. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would have been. I didn't even have to do a full kick start to get it going. I put the goggles over my eyes and opened the garage door. Nessie was standing there with her arms crossed over her chest glaring at me. I smiled inside of my helmet and turned the bike off. I put the kickstand down and walked over to her taking my helmet off and placing it on the handle bars of my bike.
"You're riding a motorcycle and didn't even tell me."
"Your dad bought it for me," I said closing my arms around her.
"I was wondering where you guys were going."
"We had to talk about a few things and he figured this would keep my mind off of everything and keep me away from the house while your guests are here. You're not mad are you?"
"Just mad that you didn't invite me to play along."
"When you get back I promise."
"Okay. Well stay safe. Be back here for dark because we need you to drop us off at the airport."
"Fine. I love you," I said giving her a kiss on the lips.
"I love you too." She smiled at me and hit my ass as I walked back to my bike. "You look really sexy do you know that?"
I felt a tingling in my stomach as I smiled up at her before putting my helmet back on. I kick started the bike and rushed out of the garage with Nessie following me with her eyes as I reached the forest.
I didn't know how far I had gone but I decided that it was time for me to head back to the house. I only fell off the bike once, which was great considering I hadn't rode in a few years. I made it back to the house in about an hour. I looked at the speedometer and realized I had gone for 20 miles. Man that left good. I was soaking wet and muddy by the time I made it to the mechanics garage. I turned the bike off and put it on its kickstand. I took my helmet off and placed it on the counter.
I looked up and noticed that there were clean, warm clothes waiting for me. They must have known that I would be cold. I put on the sweatpants and sweatshirt, breathing in deeply of the warmth. I laid my muddy clothes in the corner and put my sneakers back on to walk into the house. I entered the living room and Sue had already put dinner on the table. I ate quickly making a little bit of conversation with Jacob and Seth, who had already inhaled their food. I guess I could get used to eating with people, considering I hadn't been doing much of that lately.
After dinner I headed downstairs to get dressed in regular clothes. I didn't want Nessie last memory of me to be in sweatpants and a sweatshirt. I put on a pair of jeans with a button down shirt and brought my winter coat upstairs with me. She was already sitting on the couch with a little duffle bag by her side.
"Did you get to hunt today," I asked sitting next to her. She looked at me surprised. "I just want to make sure that you are strong. It's not so weird for me to ask you that is it," I questioned. She looked at me and smiled.
"Thanks for asking and I ate human food and hunted today. I will hunt again tomorrow when we land in Italy."
"Sounds good to me." I put my arm around her shoulders and she snuggled into my chest. We took a few vehicles to the airport about an hour later. Sue drove the big SUV with the wolves and I drove Aedan's Audi with Nessie in the front and Edward, Bella, Jasper, Alice, Rosalie and Emmett in the back. I didn't want this to end. I felt like I needed to be with them right now and I didn't want them to leave me. Sue and I parked in the temporary parking while the others parked in long-term parking. I walked hand and hand into the airport with Nessie with the others walking in front of us.
Carlisle got their tickets secured and then handed everybody their tickets. I felt like I was losing my family now. Everybody had a ticket to go to Italy but me. It's not that I wanted to go to Italy to be destroyed by vampires but at least I may be able to die with my family. But they weren't going to die, my family would survive. I looked around at everybody and they looked as scared as I did.
I saw the other vampires for the first time. They didn't look too scary now because they were all scared too. I felt a little bit more at ease but I still had a feeling in the pit of my stomach that something was going to go wrong. I didn't know what to do but hold Nessie closer to me.
Ann was holding Annie in her arms close to her chest. Annie didn't understand why Ann was leaving and Ann told her that it was to make the people that she loved safe and that she would be back in a few days. Sue was saying goodbye to her children Seth and Leah and Jacob. It was sad to see that exchange go down because Sue had such a big heart.
A few of the vampires that I didn't know and didn't care to know where holding each other close. Aedan was standing by Tanya with his arm wrapped around her shoulder. She looked like she was just happy to be near him. I saw Edward smile out of the corner of my eye. He muttered something about 'Finally, she can stop bothering me now.' I chuckled a little bit and held Nessie closer to me. We hadn't talked since we left the house.
I wanted to get down on one knee right there and ask her to marry me. For her to be mine forever and to not go. I wanted to be selfish. I wanted her to myself. I wanted so badly to hold onto her and not let her go. I looked around and noticed that everybody else had the same look on their faces. None of them wanted to do this but it needed to be done. Nobody wanted to lose their loved one. I wasn't the only one.
Once their plane was being boarded I watched as they all filed on. I got a kiss from Esme, Alice, Rosalie and Bella on the cheek and a pat on the back from Emmett, Jasper and Carlisle. Edward pulled me into a quick hug, squeezing a little bit too hard and then it was time to say goodbye to the one person that I was regretting saying goodbye to.
"I love you so much," she stated throwing her arms around my neck and kissing it. I smiled and hugged her as tightly as I could. I felt a tear on my shoulder and I looked up to see that she was crying.
"I love you more than you will ever know," I stated before she wiped my face. I felt the tear on my face just as she was wiping it off. I didn't want to cry but there was nothing that I could do about it. I needed to cry because I didn't want to let her go.
"Come on Ness," Bella yelled waiting for her daughter.
"Go and be safe. Call me as soon as you can. I love you," I barely finished before kissing her more passionately then I ever had before. Our kiss seemed to last for only a few seconds but then I heard the last call for the flight. I kissed her quickly once more and she reluctantly left my arms, picking up her duffle bag. She walked towards the gates and turned around with tears staining her cheeks and blew me a kiss. I caught it with my hand and put it in my pocket. I saw her smile quickly before she turned her attention back to the person taking her ticket and passport.
"It's going to be okay Rossy," I heard a little voice say. Annie was standing by my side holding my hand. I looked down at her and smiled, sniffling a little bit. I picked her up and held her next to my side. She wiped the tears off of my cheeks and then buried her head in my collarbone.
"You're going to be fine," Sue said putting her arm around my shoulder. "She is out cold."
I looked down and Annie was sound asleep. Sue kept her arm around my shoulder as she led me out to the cars. I put Annie in the backseat and buckled her into the car seat Ann had brought over. Sue gave me a hug and said she would be home tomorrow. She was going to visit some friends in New York. I told her that I would be fine and Annie and I headed off to home.
When we got there I left the car outside and carried Annie into the house and put her in bed. She snuggled up with her blanket as I turned the lights off and shut the door. I walked down the stairs and sighed at the dark empty house that was before me. I walked to the couch and lay down, not bothering to even turn the lights on. I was out cold within seconds of lying down.
A/N: So there it is. I don't know about you but I wouldn't be able to deal with my love being across the ocean fighting a battle and me not knowing what was going on. Anyways thank you all so much for sticking with me. I was kind of depressed last chapter but I am better now.
The links for Ross' dirt bike will be up later on tonight, around 10. Also the Christmas presents are on the profile and I updated the Cullens cars.
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Thank you so much and now I'm off to work.
~Sabrina~