Chapter One

You Jump, I Jump, Jack

Less than five years after all Volturi danger had passed, I finally looked Jacob's real age. My body was that of fifteen year old's. The only problem was that I looked more like my parents' sister rather than their daughter. It was only my grandparents that could pose as my parents. My aunts and uncles all looked like my siblings, too, though they were all hundreds of years older than me.

Mentally, I was full-grown. I had the maturity of your average thirty-year-old, though sometimes, while no one was paying attention, I did something reckless and dangerous just for the fun of it. That made me feel like the teenager I wished I was.

I am not a normal five year old, if you didn't catch that already. I am half-vampire, half-human. For the past seven years I have grown at a very rapid rate, over two times that of a normal person. I can survive on blood (human or animal) and regular food, though it isn't as appetizing as animal blood or especially human blood. I can also "show" people my thoughts, if I can just touch them. It's a gift of sorts.

Another weird thing about me: a werewolf, named Jacob Black (whom I mentioned above) has "imprinted" on me. Imprinting is basically the way the werewolves like my Jacob find their soul mate. It's like the earth is no longer holding them down, but the object of their imprinting.

Weird, huh? Jacob himself barely understands why or how this really happens, and it's actually happening to him.

In the past seven years, things have been going somewhat normal, or at least as normal as they can be for vampires and werewolves.

A year or so after I was born we were faced with a dilemma. We had definitely been in Forks too long. People were going to start speculating about Carlisle and Esme, especially, but also about the rest of my family, though we were staying out of the public eye as much as possible.

Normally, my family would have just packed up and moved to another place, creating a new life, but now we had the werewolves to think about. If I hadn't been born, they wouldn't worry at all, but they knew what the separation would do to both me and Jacob. I loved Jacob, though at that point I didn't quite understand that he loved me differently at that point.

Where could we go? What should we do? Those questions and a thousand others ran through our heads in that year.

But Jacob sort of made the decision for us: he would go where we went. Though it hurt him to leave behind his father, Billy Black, and the rest of his "pack", it would hurt him worse to be away from me.

And so we created a story, and moved to a remote place in Alaska, like my parents had originally planned to do when my mother first became a vampire, until the complication of my conception had changed all plans dramatically.

We were going to stay out of the public eye until I stopped aging. Our only contact would be with the Denali coven, another group of "vegetarian" vampires that lived quite like our own.

And so I began to grow and change and mature and develop.

Five years later, we moved to a town in northern Oregon which, like Forks, was almost always shielded from the sun by a constant cover of clouds, allowing the more "dazzling" members of our family to be able to live as normally as possible.

Living so close to Forks allowed Mom, Dad, Jacob and I to visit Grandpa Charlie, his new wife, Sue, and for Jacob to visit his wolf pack and father.

And here's where our story continued, and did not end.

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"Jacob…" I said softly into the night air, the cool breeze blowing my bronze, curly hair past my shoulders and out in front of me.

My Jacob.

As I grew up, Jacob became what I needed him to be. A playmate, a protector, then a friend, and now a lover. He just cared for me, and only wanted what was best. He would be in my life no matter what I chose. But, like he'd told my mother in times past, "It's hard to resist that level of commitment and adoration." And that was the truth. I couldn't imagine being with anyone else. Who was more perfect than my Jacob? Who would protect me better, love me better?

The answer was plainly and simply this: no one.

Anyway, I was waiting for my Jacob tonight. He was coming back home from seeing his pack again. He never stayed long without me, because it hurt him too bad.

I heard a laugh come from the enormous house behind me, and I recognized it as Emmet's, my uncle of sorts. I wondered who or what he was laughing at. Emmet was always laughing. Everything was a joke to him.

Someone hushed Emmet, and I recognized the harshness of Rosalie's voice. Rosalie. I loved Rosalie like a second mother, though my love for her could never compare to my love for my real mother.

Movement from behind the trees startled me; I spun around and crouched defensively, ready to call out to one of my many vampire family members to come help me if I needed it.

The figure laughed and stepped out into my vision. If I hadn't recognized the laugh, I would have definitely been able to tell who it was instantly by how tall the person was. Well, how tall the werewolf was.

"Renesmee." Jacob said in a hushed tone. I didn't think, just reacted. I flung myself at him after a running start, and, though the impact sort of hurt, I felt instantly alive and whole as my true other half wrapped his arms around me.

My legs wrapped around his waist and my hands linked behind his neck. I looked into his dark eyes for a little while, and he looked back into my equally dark ones.

"Hey." He says.

"Hey." I say back, laughing a little at our monosyllabic and anticlimactic verbal greeting. His arms tighten around me, and I kiss him along his jaw. He shudders a bit in response, and I flush with satisfaction.

I pull my face away, and hear tense voices coming from the house. I imagine exactly how I know Dad is right now: stressed, with his hands over his ears to block out as much as he can. I know he's probably shouting in his head right now, trying to ward off Jacob's thoughts. I feel bad, but then again… Edward doesn't have to listen.

My mom has probably just realized that Jacob is back home, so she's probably shielded Dad to keep all thoughts out. I imagine Edward loosening up, but also still looking a little upset at whatever thoughts made it through before Mom thought to shield him.

"How was your day?" Jacob asks, pulling me out of my thoughts, still holding me up. I put both of my hands on either side of his face, and think about every moment of today, stopping when I reached present time. "Hard?" He asks. I nod a fraction of an inch. I know that I've probably just hurt him, and I feel bad.

"I'm okay now, though." I say brightly, trying to distract him. It doesn't work. Distress is practically radiating from his body.

"I don't think I'm going to be visiting as much anymore. It's not worth it." I sigh deeply as he says the last sentence. I feel bad now. I hated keeping him away from the others he loved, even if it was hard for us to be away from each other. It was bad enough for him without his knowing how painful the separation was for me. But before I can say anything, he changed the subject. "Are you thirsty?" He asks, and I remember that at one point today I was contemplating going hunting without Jacob, instead of eating the food Bella wanted me to eat.

"A little." I lie, the burning in my throat flaming more painfully as I spoke. He sees right through me, and brushes the dark circle under my left eye, much less noticeable than the ones of my other family members' when they get thirsty themselves. One of the benefits of being only half-vampire is that you look a lot more human than regular vampires.

"Do you want to hunt?" He asks.

"No." I laugh. "I want to stay right here and not move an inch."

"I think we better move a couple inches, actually. I have a feeling your dad is going to rip my throat out if we don't disengage very, very quickly."

I wouldn't be surprised with the fact. Edward was never quiet about his displeasure in this whole imprinting-thing. Whenever he said something about it, though, I was always quick to remind him that he owed my life and the life of some of his family members to Jacob for imprinting. I also reminded him that imprinting wasn't voluntary. He was always quick to roll his eyes at that one.

We walked hand-in-hand back to the house (Dad would have to just deal with this one) and announced that we were going to go hunt. Jacob stayed in his human form, and raced me through the woods. He beat me easily, mostly because I was dead tired. It was past one in the morning, and I was ready to go to sleep. But, I wanted to spend more time with Jacob.

We didn't hunt right away, just found a clearing in the woods and laid down to look up at the stars. We had a lot to talk about. We always had a lot to talk about, actually.

The stars twinkled brightly from high in the sky, and my eyes picked out different patterns easily. Orion's belt… the Big Dipper… The full moon glowed eerily, and I stared at the little gray spots that were craters, wondering absently how different the moon was now then fifty years ago when man first set foot on it.

"So." I started. Jacob turned his head to look at me. "I talked to Mom today, and she talked to Dad."

"What about?" He asks, furrowing his dark brows.

"About us… getting married."

"What did they say?"

"Dad flipped, naturally, but mom was pretty supportive. She understands that… there's a time limit."

"A time limit?"

"For us to…" I laughed, shaking my head. He knew what I was talking about, but he was going to make me say it. So, I said it in the least sexy way I could. "Procreate."

"Oh." He says, grinning wickedly. I ignore that, feeling my cheeks flush bright red. Carlisle and the rest of our family had come to the conclusion that my chances of having a baby would be gone once I stopped growing, which would happen in roughly two years. So, if Jacob and I wanted to have kids, our time was disappearing rápidamente.

And it wasn't like I was in some rush to shack up with Jacob. We had all of eternity for that, but, I was more than ready. And so was Jacob. As soon as I had fully understood all of the implications of imprinting, and had begun to return the feelings myself, I knew that this having-kids thing was something I needed to think about, so I wouldn't get blind-sighted when it was too late.

It didn't help that I saw Rosalie's knowing stares whenever anyone brought up Jacob. I knew what she was thinking. She wanted Jacob and I to go ahead and have kids, while we can. And I fully understood that. I'd seen what not having kids had done to her and Esme. Some of that had changed, thanks to me being born, when they'd had a baby to feed and cuddle with and teach.

Jacob interrupted my thoughts. "So, do you want to? Get married?"

"Yes." I laugh. "Are you proposing?"

"Not exactly." I raise my eyebrows. "Proposing is supposed to be a surprise." He pauses, smiling a little to himself. "When I do, believe me, you'll be surprised."

I laugh. "Alrighty then."

"So… When would you want to get married? If I did, you know, propose." He smiles.

"As soon as possible."

"Would you let Alice plan the wedding?" He asks, biting his lip to keep from laughing. I shrug. Mom always talked about what a great job Alice had done with her and Dad's wedding… Why not? Might as well let Alice have her fun.

"Sure."

"I think we should go talk to everyone about it. Tell them we're ready."

"They're all going to be ecstatic." I say.

"Except maybe for Edward." Jacob grins, and I nod in agreement.

"We can tell them… after we hunt." I get up, and start off into the woods. Jacob follows, staying pretty far away as he phases, so as not to get too close to me. Every time he did this, it reminded me of Emily's giant scar down her face. Though I was a bit more indestructible than Emily, I knew that I would still get hurt by it.

And then, me in my regular form and Jacob in his wolf form, we continue on into the night.

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We were the quintessence of happiness in the days that followed.

Alice had nearly had a stroke when we told her that she could plan the wedding. She'd instantly ran up to her room, dragging poor Jasper behind her, and had gotten started instantly. Mom had whispered in my ear that Alice had already picked out my wedding dress. I'd just rolled my eyes at that one. Of course she had. One of the many things I'd inherited from my mother was a lack of care when it comes to things like fashion and wedding plans. Alice knew that I wouldn't really wouldn't be concerned with what my dress looked like, and I knew that she would pick something perfect even without my opinion.

Dad's mouth had clenched, and he'd gripped Mom's hand harder than necessary. He didn't say anything.

Carlisle, Esme, and Rosalie had been extra excited. Esme and Rosalie had launched into plans to start building Jacob and I a house, and had disappeared into Carlisle's study to work on blueprints and interior decorating.

Mom and I had gone for a walk afterwards, talking about Jacob and the wedding and all kinds of other stuff.

"Are you excited to get married?" She asks, grabbing my hand.

"He hasn't really proposed yet." I say sourly, narrowing my eyes at her overly-thrilled self. "But yes." I grin, feeling quite elated. It wasn't necessarily the wedding itself that I really wanted to happen, it was just the concept of the wedding. Being with my Jacob in every way possible. I know that it isn't like he'll just fall in love with someone else, but still. I liked the thought of me being his wife and him being my husband.

"So… What about after that? Kids?" She asks. I make a face. "Don't think of me as your mother… Think of me as just a friend. I'm honestly curious." I roll my eyes.

"Probably. Now, do we have to talk about this?"

"I guess not." She laughs, taking my hand, and we start running back towards the house, pushing ourselves to see just how fast we can go.

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Alice was going crazy with the wedding planning. Her, Esme, Rosalie, and Mom spent their days pouring over wedding magazines, wedding dress websites, and all of that jazz.

I thought it was pretty ironic that they were already planning when, really, Jacob still hadn't proposed. Whenever I brought it up, he changed the subject. Alright… I didn't dwell on it.

Then, a few days later, we were down at La Push, and he suggested that we go for a walk. We walked down the road towards where the cliffs are, and when we get to the spot where we're overlooking the water, he stops.

He turns to look out over the cliffs.

"Nessie… Renesmee… You know I love you, right?" He sounds a little nervous.

"Of course I know that."

"Ness, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to tie myself to you in every single way." He pauses. "You see this cliff?"

"Uh, yeah…" I say, not sure where this is going.

"I've jumped off this cliff before. And that's what it's going to be like. Jumping off a cliff. We love each other, and we know things are going to work out, but it's still nerve-wracking. But as soon as we do jump, it's going to be awesome because we're sure of each other. I love you, and I want to jump with you. So will you jump with me?" He gets down on his knee, and I absently notice that when he's on his knees, he's eye-level with me."Or, more importantly, will you marry me?" He pulls out a small black box, and flips it open in one fluid motion.

Tears rush to my eyes, and I laugh a little. What a doof. It's not like he had to ask. Didn't he know that he didn't need to be formal about it? "Of course I will." He takes the ring out of the box, and slips it onto my left ring finger. It's a simple platinum band, with a tiny diamond that glinted in the afternoon sun.

He stands up, and I jump into his arms, kissing him fiercely.

"So, are you ready?" He says when we break away.

"Ready for what?" I ask, not even trying to hide my confusion. "Are we doing this tonight?" I laugh, and he shakes his head.

"To jump." He gestures towards the water below us, and I get it. He wants us to jump, literally.

"Are you going to have an anxiety attack while we do? Afraid I'm gonna break or something?" I laugh, teasing him. He rolls his eyes, and shakes his head.

"I think I'll live." He grabs my hand, and steps to the edge. I feel a little thrill of nervousness in my stomach.

"One…" I start.

"Two…" He continues.

"Three!" We yell in unison, jumping off. My stomach flies into my throat as we fall, and the air whips my hair back from my face. I let out a little scream of adrenaline, and I feel my lips pulling back into a smile. I look over at Jacob for one split second before we hit the water, and he looks just as happy as I feel.

One jump down, one to go.

A/N: Read and review! Hope you guys like it!