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The next week was nearly impossible to handle. I split my time between trying to support Jake, and doing all the other tasks that needed my attention. Rachel was already in La Push to be with Paul, but Jake's other sister, Rebecca, needed to be called and brought in.
On top of that, Renesmee continued to pull away from Edward and me, spending time with Jake to show her support but mostly staying in the woods, hunting and doing whatever it was she did to occupy her time. When I told her about leaving, she accepted it passively, drawing into herself and refusing to discuss it with us. Edward suggested letting down my shield so he could get a glimpse into her thoughts, but her mind was the one thing that I still had power to protect, the one area where I had control. It had simply become instinct to protect her mind against attack.
At the same time, I was dealing with preparations for my family's move to New Hampshire, where the Cullen's owned a home in the mountains. Though Esme had some reservations about leaving a safe place where many vampires knew our location to one that virtually no one had heard of, Alice convinced her that it would be safer for the wolves to not have interested vampires wandering though the wolves' territory. As they packed up, they only waited for Edward, Renesmee and me to leave.
Of course it came time to tell Charlie. He was already broken up about Billy and I could tell it wounded him to know that we were leaving.
"Now, Bells?" Charlie's voice cracked, staring through the hospital glass window into Billy's room. "Can't you wait for...for at least a few months?"
"It has to be now, Dad" I said, trying my hardest not to hurt his feelings more than I already had. "Look at Renesmee," I nodded toward her still form, holding Jake's hand as he knelt over Billy's bedside. "People are already starting to get suspicious about her rapid growth in the few times they've seen her.
We also need to move, Dad. Esme wants to move closer to her family, Carlisle has a teaching job lined up at a medical school, and Edward and I want to take classes out East. We have to move in time for the new semester" I told him, the lie that we had concocted falling from my lips with a false note. Charlie looked at me sharply for a minute before his face fell again into a frown.
"Yeah, I guess you're right" he said sadly. "Knew it was gonna happen, just a matter of when."
He paused when another thought entered his head. "What about Jake? Would he just let you and Nessie move away?"
I took a second to think about my phrasing. Even my usually clueless father had seen the connection between Renesmee and Jake.
"He's coming with us, Dad. After…well…you know" Charlie nodded roughly, tears welling in his eyes. "He said getting away from Forks for a little while might be a good idea. He'll be back often, but he wants to go wherever we do."
"Well," Charlie said after heaving a deep, sad sigh. "I'll miss you Bells. You better visit home here a lot."
"Of course, Dad" I said as I pulled him into what I hoped was not a bone-crushing hug. Sue Clearwater came up from down the hall with two cups of coffee, ending our conversation. Charlie would be ok. He would be safer, and, I knew, not alone.
The day it happened seemed so usual. Just like any day. It dawned grey with drizzle falling softly. After a night of gazing out Carlisle and Esme's window with Edward silent at my side, my phone buzzed quietly. Before it was over I answered.
"Jake?"
"He's…" Seth's voice cracked. "He's not doing well, Bella." Seth took in a ragged breath. "Dr. Cullen…he says it will be in the next hour or so."
"I'm coming" I said, already halfway out of the door with Edward keeping in stride.
"Wait, Edward" I stopped, turning to him. "Get Renesmee. No matter how she's feeling toward him or us right now, she'd want to be there."
He gazed into my eyes before nodding slightly as I turned back, jumping on my motorcycle because I knew it was the easiest way to get to the hospital without suspicion.
Within the hour, Billy was gone. As I looked at Jake, I noticed a light had gone out in his eyes. Pain radiated off his still huge but shrunken frame. He collapsed on to me, soundlessly sobbing as I easily held up weight that would have crushed me just a few years ago. Tears I would never cry pricked at my eyes as I held my best friend. When he finally released me to go hug family and friends, I turned to my father who stood with Renesmee. The expression on my father's face was pure sorrow, and as I went to hug him, I glanced at Renesmee. I expected her to be looking for Jake but instead her stare was only for me. The expression was one that took my breath away. No sorrow, no pain, just raw, unadulterated rage.
I glanced away and then back to her and suddenly her face was smooth, sadness for Jake speaking through her eyes. Had I just imagined that terrifying expression? I shook myself slightly, allowing my father to fall into my arms as he cried.
Just in time for the funeral the next day, the rain stopped. Alice assured me with a tad of annoyance that it shouldn't get sunny anytime soon, though the wolves prevented her from knowing for certain. In a traditional ceremony, the tribe paid homage to their leader, their elder. A memorial was done on land with Quileute songs before he was brought to James Island, the traditional burial ground for chiefs of the tribe. Since only Quileute were allowed onto the island, we stood on First Beach with the permission of the tribe, watching them take Billy away across the water.
As they rowed away I looked down the beach where Jacob and I had gotten to know each other. The place where I learned the Quileute legends about what Edward was and what I was now. The rest of the tribe stood a distance down the beach from where I and my family stood, refusing to pay attention to us. It solidified in my mind the need for us to leave. The legends of La Push must once again become legend.