Chapter 19

New Beginnings

We returned to the house to find that Esme was alone. Jacob had come by to get Sue and took her back to the reservation.

Esme said that Jacob told her that we got Renesmee; that she was safe, but that was all he had said.

Jacob had always been respectful in the presence of Esme and Carlisle, so at any time he was mad at any of the others, he would just keep to himself, and that is how he acted when he came to get Sue.

None of us were overly concerned about Jacob; he just needed time to cool off.

A lot happened in the next few days. Jacob had not been over to the house and he only spoke to Renesmee whenever he called. We were unsure of where we stood with the treaty, so we just continued to honor it.

Our discussions on possibly leaving Forks were becoming more frequent. We lacked reasons to stay, although we did subconsciously made small excuses to prolong our stay for a couple more days. It seemed unreal that it would be decades before we could return, and start our lives here all over again.

Some of our time consisted of discussing where we would go, which came down to New Hampshire or Toronto, Canada. Edward and I had once talked about going to college in New Hampshire, so that was our preference. When we weren't making such plans, we were usually checking up on the Volturi.

So far, they had been obeying our agreement and not abusing their abilities. Elizabeth, who was now back with us, was still in contact with Aro; and Alice, used her visions to ensure that things were going as planned. Charlie also helped; he had realized that as a newborn himself, it would not be feasible for him to return to his regular job. People would know the difference; he hesitated, but ended up resigning. That would have destroyed him, if he wasn't so busy protecting our own laws.

Overall, everything seemed for the first time in a while, to be going smoothly, except that we hadn't seen Jacob in days.

We did hear from Sue, who was still recovering. She had made a trip to see Carlisle at the hospital where he worked, for a check-up. She told Carlisle that Jacob had been so furious, that he told his dad, Billy, exactly why Charlie had not been around. Billy had his suspicions, but he now knew for sure what Charlie had become. Billy of course, was not happy and told Jacob to distance himself from us, the Cullen's, and focus on his job, which was protecting the reservation. Sue said she believed that Jacob started to blame himself for not protecting the couple who had been attacked by Demetri and Scarlett, so he decided to follow his father's advice, or should I say, his father's order.

Carlisle said there was no need to tell Sue or anyone else that we may be leaving in a few days, assuring us that Jacob did need to focus on the reservation and it was best if he did not know what was happening.

Charlie agreed with Carlisle, he was still uncomfortable with Jacob's protection over Renesmee, and he though distance would be good for everyone.

***

There was just so much going on in a short period of time. That night, Charlie went to his house to get his belongings. He was still not sure what he would do to the house; he did not want to sell it. Carlisle suggested that he hired a realtor and rented it out. After all, real estate and investments seemed to be a good way for vampires to make money.

He couldn't have been there for long, when he called me.

I couldn't even describe his tone, "Bella! When was the last time that you e-mailed your mother?"

E-mail had become the only form of communication that I had with Renee. She couldn't see me, and I am sure she would notice how different my voice was if I had called her. For years I had made excuses from being travelling to places with no cell phone towers, to missing each other's calls. Most of the times, Charlie would give her updates saying we were fine and such.

"It is been a while dad, you know we have been overwhelmed."

"Well Bells, I don't know what to do. She left numerous messages. Clearly I was not here to get those messages, so she is on her way…I tried calling her cell phone, but got a voice mail; same thing at her house."

I froze in place. Finally, I managed to get my words out. "Just hurry back dad, we will figure something out."

Alice and Elizabeth were so preoccupied with supervising the Volturi, that I could not blame them for not seeing this coming.

I went straight to Carlisle for advice. Edward and Elizabeth were also in the room, gazing at each other as if they were communicating through their thoughts.

Before Carlisle could even say anything, Edward gazed at me; he smiled and asked me in the sweetest tone.

"Bella, would you like to see Renee?"

"Of course I would. But you know I can't, she will know about us all, she will be in danger." I wasn't even sure why he had asked me that.

"Love, our anniversary is coming up, trust me, you can see Renee. I will take care of the rest. She can also meet Renesmee if you would like her to."

I noticed he looked at Elizabeth and nodded as if giving her a sign, and then she excused herself to make a phone call.

I just shook my head; that just did not seem like a good idea.

"Trust me." Edward said in the most confident tone.

I finally agreed; still not sure if that was a good idea.

Alice had redirected her visions to Renee and had seen that she was coming straight here from the airport. She was coming alone.

I heard Charlie's car in the driveway, and saw Elizabeth talking to him, I overheard her say that an old friend of hers, Desiree, would be over in a few minutes. I had heard her name before, but could not remember where.

Edward finally explained.

"Bella, I want you to enjoy Renee's visit. I know how much you miss her so I will tell you what I have in mind, that way you can relax and truly enjoy every second of it… Desiree's ability is to erase someone's memory and replace it with new ones, so Renee will always remember this visit, but she will see you as… as she did when you were human."

"And she won't be in danger."

"Of course not." He reassured me.

"What about Renesmee, will she remember her?"

"We will have to work out the details on that, but if you would like her to."

I nodded.

Desiree lived in Seattle, so she arrived quickly and went straight to the back of the house along with the others. I was alone inside the house, waiting, anxiously.

I finally heard a car coming. I imagined how my heart beats would sound and feel like right now, if I was human.

Before Renee could knock on the door, I opened it.

I would never forget her expression. She smiled and started to cry.

"Oh, Bella. You look beautiful."

She ran towards me and gave me a hug. She was still crying.

"I am so happy to see you Bella!"

"I am happy to see you too mom."

I was waiting for her to comment on my voice or on my looks, or even on how cold my skin felt; but she never did. She just followed me inside, asking about how everyone was and telling me about her new job.

"Mom, there is someone I would like you to meet. I am sorry you had to wait so long for this."

I called Edward's name, in a low voice. I knew he would hear me. "Edward, can you bring Renesmee?"

Edward came in, holding Renesmee's hand. She was smiling; Edward had told her who Renee was.

Renee's mouth hanging open, she was now sobbing. "Bella, she… she looks just like you!"

I smiled as Renesmee gave her a hug.

We talked and talked for hours, about daily things… not once Renee asked any questions. I am sure Renee knew something was going on; she was really perceptive, when she wanted to be.

The time to say good-bye was approaching. Renee seemed to get sad. She surprised me when she asked me the most difficult questions I would ever have to answer.

"Bella, I am not going to see you again, am I?"

I couldn't lie. I just looked down and shook my head. She came closer and hugged me.

"Please, at least keep sending me e-mails. And call, if you can. Now, I know your dad is here, would you go get him please."

"Mom, I am not sure if this is a good idea."

"Hi Charlie." She said. He was already standing behind me.

She didn't even react to his change. She just looked at him, smiled, still crying.

"Promise you will take care you Bella."

He promised.

Everyone else came back in the room and it was time for Desiree to do what she needed to do.

Desiree had a few words with Renee, and then Renee left. Desiree seemed amused, and I was confused, I wasn't sure that Renee had any of her memories actually erased. She didn't seem to act as if she had.

Renee left, and Desiree asked us all to gather around the dining room table, which was only used for family meetings.

Desiree seemed in a much happier mood than she was when she first came in.

"I have to ask a question for all of you; all of you who knew Bella when she was a human."

We all looked at her puzzled.

"Do you all remember her scent, what her scent was as a human?"

They all laughed and Emmett made a few jokes about how intoxicating my scent was.

Desiree laughed. "Wow" she said, "this was the most interesting day I have had in centuries."

"Can you tell us why?" Carlisle asked.

"I couldn't erase Renee's memories. But please, do not worry. Bella, she already knew. Your mom, she is different herself. That is why your scent was so different from other humans."

I looked even more confused, Desiree continued, as if she was eager to finally let out what she had learned.

"Bella, honey, your mother is a shape-shifter."

Everyone froze in place, in amusement. I knew that I would never hear the end of Emmett's jokes… but most importantly, I wondered if that meant I would be able to see her again. Only time would tell…

There were also many other things that only time would tell. The next day, we left Forks. Renesmee understood why we did not say good-bye to Jacob, she understood that the reservation needed him, but we all knew that it was just a matter of time before he came after us, before he came after Renesmee. We could only hope that when that day came, he understood that we left the way we did to protect the people in Forks, because we are truly different from the others of our kind.

The End