Chapter Four: Living on the Reservation
The silence ended, the whispers began and the merriment of the occasion was soon lost to the world. Nobody knew what to do or say except ask their neighbor, "Do you think it's true?", "Could it be?" and "What will they do?" Galvanized by the stares, Jake turned back to Ness, grabbed her in his arms, and smiled, "I can't wait to be a dad," he proclaimed loud enough for everyone to hear. With that Jake scooped his bride off of her sweet and began to walk back towards the beach, "You all will have to excuse us now! It's time for the honeymoon and I'd rather not waste another minute. Thanks for coming!" And with that the reception was over and all of the wedding guests were left standing in absolute shock, obviously unsure of how to react to the night's rapid turn of events.
The next morning Ness awoke in an unfamiliar bed as sunlight streamed through a window covered in cream colored curtains. With eyes still puffy from hours of crying, she tried to look around and assess her surroundings before quickly giving it up as a bad job. The night full of eating and dancing that she had was enough to leave anyone exhausted, but coupled with the crying and the wave of morning sickness that seemed to be threatening her stomach made even sitting up sound like a terrible idea. "Jacob?" she called, hoping that he was somewhere nearby. "Just a sec, Ness. I'm coming," he replied in a tone that Ness considered much too chipper for whatever time of day it was. Looking down at herself Ness realized she was no longer in her wedding dress but in a t-shirt of Jacob's large enough to entirely cover her petite frame. Lifting the blanket and sheets that covered her, Ness then saw that the bed she had been so carefully tucked into was more massive than any she had ever seen. A completely wooden structure, from what she could tell from her position on top of it, the frame appeared to have been custom made to accommodate Jacob's unnaturally large build.
"How are you feeling?" Jake asked as he appeared in the doorway carrying a tray covered in breakfast foods. Not knowing how best to answer her husband's question, Ness asked her own. "Did you make me breakfast?" Her eyes opened wider to take in the sight as a small rumbling came from her stomach. Jake laughed at the sound, producing a deep wolfish bark of a laugh from somewhere deep within. "I guess it was a good idea," he answered as he sat down on the bed and placed the tray on his bride's lap. They ate quietly, enjoying the warmth of the summer's sun that filtered through the windows. Not wanting to talk about the previous night's revelation, Ness asked questions about the house Jake had built for the two of them.
"How long have you been working on this?" Ness questioned with a sweeping gesture of her right hand. Jake chuckled before replying, "Years, my love, many years." Her eyes opened wide in shock, Ness asked, "How many years? How did you managed to keep such a big secret?" Jake laughed a little more before settling into a lengthy explanation. "I started coming out here not long after your family faced down those Italian bloodsuckers..." Having a bit more respect for the history of her family's kind, Ness interrupted Jake with a correction, "the Volturi, you mean," before he continued.
"When they left, and it turned out I wouldn't have to take you into hiding, I decided prepare for the best instead of the worst case scenario." He looked at Ness, who had finished eating and moved the tray down to the floor, before he continued. "At first I just cleared the land, I wasn't sure how long it would take for you to grow up but I knew that when you did I would want to be ready. So it was slow work, between you, the pack, school and working at the car repair shop, my free time was limited. But over the years I worked on it, little by little. I actually lifted most of the logs into place in wolf form," he added looking for Ness's reaction.
Instead of laughing at the idea of a wolf building a house, like Jake expected, Ness surprised him by instead shouting, "Logs? Like whole logs? Is this a log cabin?" She jumped out of bed and put her face to the window, looking to either side for a glimpse of the stacked logs that made up the outer walls of her new home. Memories of her Grandpa Charlie pulling boxes of old toys down from his attic, of he and Jake teaching her to build houses out of her mom's old Lincoln Logs, all flooded her mind. "I wanted to live in a log cabin when I was little," she whispered as she turned away from the window. "I remembered," said Jake as he too got up from the bed, "Let me show you the rest."
"I can't believe I didn't notice last night when you brought me here," Ness sighed, ashamed with herself for having unknowingly missed the big reveal. "I wasn't expecting you to see much between the darkness and your crying," Jake admitted. "This works out much better," he tried to convince her, "it looks much more impressive in the daylight." He took her hand and led her to their bathroom, narrating the features he had a professional plumber install. "I couldn't risk screwing anything up, I might be handy but this needed to be perfect."
He led her through the living room and kitchen as well as a second bedroom, constantly reminding her that it was still a work in progress. "I didn't paint because I knew you'd want a say in the colors and I want to lay some tile in the kitchen but it'll cost a little extra to get exactly what I want." He rattled on and on about the bits that still needed to be completed but Ness was in awe with the amount of work all of the years of construction must have required. Before she knew it, he was leading Ness up a flight of steps to show her the rest. Finally he covered her eyes and carried her outside. Setting her down at the edge of the property, he removed his hand from her face allowing her to take a first real look at their cabin.
"After we announced the engagement I got the rest of the pack to pitch in where they could to get it liveable in time," Jake explained as Ness took it all in. There was a front porch that seemed to wrap around to the back as well. In her mind's eye Ness could see the flower bed she would put in front of the porch and the swing she would sit on in warm weather. She thought this cabin was much more than just liveable. "This is more than I could have ever asked for," she said while hugging Jake, "Thank you so much." With that the two of them went back inside to discuss paint colors and decide on furniture.
That same morning proceeded in a much different fashion back at the Cullen Manor. Tired after hours of her husband's inconsolable solace, anger and disappointment in their daughter, Bella had unceremoniously kicked Edward out of the cottage. He sought refuge in Carlisle's study hoping that he, at least, would understand. "Father, I doubt know what to do. I've tried so hard to raise her and teach her right from wrong, to show her the importance of living by the laws of God. She had a chance at salvation and true everlasting life, not this shameful immortality of the accursed. Where did I go wrong?"
Edward finished his little tirade with a plea for help in his eyes, begging Carlisle for his guidance. Carlisle looked at his son with sorrow, knowing that Edward could read his thoughts and hear that he shared his pain. Finally Carlisle gave voice to his only piece of advice, "You cannot give up on her." Looking out of the window to the trees that surround the property, he continued, "Renesme is young, she has made mistakes, but it is not too late for her to be forgiven. You've raised a good daughter and she still continues to grow. As the years go on she will learn from this and be better for it. Her soul is not yet lost."
Edward listened patiently but his anger and disappointment were not abated. "It may well be that God shall forgive her of her sins, but how can I forgive her lies and disobedience? How can I condone her actions or express any happiness at where her choices have led her? I fear I can not trust my own daughter any longer," he resolved. Carlisle turned back to Edward with even more sadness plaguing his thoughts. All he could say was, "pray on it and let God lead you." With that Carlisle lifted his Bible from where he had left it on his desk the previous day and handed it to his son before leaving the room.
By the time Jake and Ness had returned from the hardware store later that day, all of their wedding gifts had been delivered to the cabin. Ness could only presume that Jake had arranged it so that she wouldn't have to face any of her friends or family just yet. The couple decided to open their presents before beginning the painting process as patience wasn't one of Ness's strong suits. Amongst the decorative china and monogrammed towels were items they desperately needed to turn the cabin into a home. From kitchenware to bedding and all manner of home decor items, it seemed as if the two would want for nothing.
"Except furniture," Jake pointed out as he gathered up all of the torn wrapping paper for the trash. "True," responded Ness, "but at least we've got a bed." And she hadn't been exaggerating because the bed that they'd slept in was indeed the only piece of furniture that they owned. "Well first things, first, my love. Let's get started with the painting and then the floors. We've gotta have floors to put the furniture on." And with that the newlyweds spent the whole night and the next morning painting and eating frozen pizzas until every room on the first floor was a brand new hue.
"Looks great!" Jake exclaimed as the finally removed the last of the painters tape from the walls. "Not exactly how I pictured our honeymoon though," he added as she looked at his wife's paint smeared face. "Are you kidding me? This exactly how I wanted to spend the first 36 hours of our marriage," replied Ness in her usual brand of sassy sarcasm. Just as she brought the paint rollers to the sink for washing, her cell phone rang. Jake could see the hope fill her eyes as she looked to see who tho call was from. He also saw the twinge of disappointment that betrayed her voice as she answered her mother's call.
"Hi Mom, I'm glad you called. I've wanted to talk to you but haven't known what to say other than I'm sorry," Ness said into the phone while leaning against the kitchen counter. Jake couldn't quite make out Bella's whisper quiet voice as it came though the phone but he gathered from Ness's nodding head that it wasn't anything too bad. After a while Ness asked a question that had clearly been pulling at her for the past day. "How is dad taking it?" The answer to the question was sure to be interesting so Jake stepped closer to Ness in order to hear as well.
"Well I'm sure you can imagine how hurt he was to find out about you being pregnant. He was very upset by the time we made it home the other night and, well, pretty disappointed. He drove me absolutely crazy with his rotation of ranting and brooding so I told him to go for a run or something. Apparently he went to talk to your grandpa Carlisle and has been holed up in the study ever since..." Bella seemed to realize how upsetting this news might be and tried to assuage her daughter's guilt by saying, "Don't worry honey, this isn't the first time he's gone into hiding because things didn't go the way he wanted."
Jake tried to stifle a chuckle after hearing that but noticed that Ness wasn't as amused. Apparently Bella had passed the phone along to Carlisle, who had some questions to ask about Ness and the pregnancy. "It's very important that we keep a close eye on this if we want to make sure you don't run into the same complications as your mother. I don't want you to worry unnecessarily but I would like to run some tests to hopefully see how your baby is developing," Carlisle said, his bedside manner just as impeccable over the phone. Ness agreed to the tests and in no time she and Carlisle developed an accurate flow chart of her progress thus far.
As Carlisle had expected, an ultrasound yielded no results, yet the presence of a fetus was unmistakable. The pair decided it might be worthwhile to contact their old friend Nahuel, to see if he might be able to shed any light on what lay ahead. Luckily Alice proved to be of great use for more than just party planning and was able to foresee a location for, Huilen, Nahuel's aunt. With any luck she would know where the vampire hybrid was or at least a means of reaching him. Alice and Jasper set out immediately and while they were able to track down Huilen surprisingly fast, they learned that she had no means of contacting Nahuel because he had long been on the hunt for his father. The pair settled on leaving a letter in the hopes that Nahuel would be returning to his home in the South American jungles soon.
Resigned to the fact that Nahuel might not be able to offer any insight into Renesme's particular situation even if he did contact them, Carlisle and Ness monitored her pregnancy with all of the accuracy of NASA space mission. While her pregnancy proved to be moving along more rapidly than the average gestation period, Renesme's baby grew nowhere near as quickly as she had in the womb. She assured Carlisle that her thirst was no greater than it ever had been in the past, suggesting that the baby might not crave blood at all. It seemed like her child might indeed be more wolf-like, or at least human, than anything else. For this reason it was fairly easy to convince the Cullens that the pregnancy posed no immediate threat to Ness's health and there was no need to move into the manor. It only seemed to make sense that Jake and Ness continue living on the reservation and eventually raise their child there.
"We haven't talked about baby names yet," Jake mentioned one evening while he and Ness were preparing for bed. It was a month after the wedding and, from her and Carlisle's calculations, Ness was at the start of her second trimester. She had only just begun to show if you could even call it that. From head on Renesmee still appeared exactly the same to most people's eyes and even for the eyes of an immortal it took more than a passing glance to notice the slight roundness her belly was exhibiting. Jake, having grown quite familiar with all the curves of his wife's physique, noticed this as Renesmee stood before the floor length mirror hanging on their bedroom wall.
"Oh, I don't know," Ness sighed as she scrutinized her reflection before glancing down at her slightly protruding midsection. She hadn't displayed much enthusiasm for her pregnancy at all and it was something Jacob wanted to help her with. After her father found out about the baby and promptly left their wedding reception in a fit of anger, Jacob worried that the resulting sense of guilt might become too much for her.
"Well I have a few ideas, if you'd like to hear them," Jake ventured while keeping his eyes downcast. Coming around, Ness turned away from the floor length mirror and joined her husband who was seated on the edge of the bed. "Okay then, I'm listening," Ness said with less enthusiasm than Jake would have liked. Undaunted, however, Jake pressed on and presented his first idea. "Obviously I think Jacob would be the best name for a son," Jake said unabashedly with quite the grin plastered across his face.
At Jake's first suggestion, Ness simply rolled her eyes while climbing under the comforter and sheets that covered their bed. "Okay, we'll come back to that. What are your ideas for a girl?" she asked. Jake got up from the bed and went to get a piece of paper from the pocket of his jeans before laying back down next to Ness. Seeing that her interest had been piqued Jake seized the opportunity to get her more involved and asked for honest opinions on each of his ideas before revealing his list.
"Annabel, Autumn, Eliana, Haylee, Paige, Paula, Mackenzie and Marlie. Wow," read Ness with her eyebrows raised in surprise. "What's the matter?" Jake asked with a note of alarm ringing through his voice. "You don't like any of them?" he finished, disappointed at his seemingly poor taste in baby names. "No, no, it's not that," replied Ness in a hurry, having not intended to hurt Jake's feelings and sorry to have given him the wrong impression. "I was just shocked that you listed them in alphabetical order," she explained with a smirk.
Seeing the smirk that threatened to bloom into outright laughter, Jake mentioned how much thought he'd given it. "That must have really hurt because most of these are pretty good," Ness joked encouragingly. At that, Jake let out a bark of laughter, happy to finally see his bride relaxed. It had been really hard for him to watch his new wife go through the first few days of their marriage sullen and despondent. She hadn't wanted to leave the house and while she consented to visitors and helped with decorating, it was obvious her mind was elsewhere.
Jake knew, of course, that she wanted to hear from her father, but gathered that she probably had no idea of what to say. It was clear that she was worried, not only over her deteriorating relationship with her father but also for the future of their baby. Glad to move past those four days of anxiety, Jake watched Ness peruse his short list with more focus than the first time around. "So do you like any of them in particular?" he asked while trying his best to sound nonchalant. Sensing his need for approval, Ness admitted that she really liked the name Marlie, "I just think its pretty original...without having to mash together the names of our parents," she finished with a roll of her eyes. Jake laughed again, "so then Marlie for a girl? Sounds great to me!" And as the pair chuckled, Jacob leaned over and gave Ness a kiss in a move so fast you would have had to be super natural to catch it. Pleasantly surprised, Ness reciprocated, all together in a much better mood than she had been ever since the dramatic end of her wedding reception days prior. And for at least one night, the couple stayed that way, blissfully happy to be in love, married, and with child, just like any normal newlyweds.
Author's Note:
I really appreciate everyone who has been following the story thus far, especially those of you who have sent reviews! If you ever notice a typo, have a question, or even a suggestion, please review because I love hearing other people's perspectives. Beside's that I'm writing this note to apologize for the "fluffy-ness" of the story so far and to inform you that this story will pick up the pace soon. Thank you again for reading!