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Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns all Twilight Saga and characters.
Leah
The more I looked at my son the more fascinated I became. He looked like me and a little bit like my dad which I was grateful for. I didn't want anything of that bastard Levan in my precious son but the nose was definitely non-Clearwater. I could live with it though. Carlisle kept measuring him every hour and taking samples of his blood and saliva to try to figure out how come he was a boy. I already knew why. He was a miracle. My miracle. After five days of being in the house recovering and an influx of both Cullen and Denali vampires ogling over my son, I finally got to go home. Mom, Emily, Rachel and Nessie had gotten together to get the house ready since Sam would literally shit bricks if we let a leech through to our territory.
Of course, the Cullens were busy getting their own house ready for their new family members. I really was happy for them. Eve was possibly one of the most amazing kids I ever met. She was kind, brave and smart. She didn't understand a lot of things at first and was very scared of the men in the family but little by little she was getting better. She was smart and she understood that Levan and Ramon did was wrong. She was still a bit shy but she became involved when it came to something she was passionate about. I could already tell how much the little twirp loved my brother which automatically made me like her. Seth would go over the top trying to make her giggle which wasn't too often. She would mostly smile. It was kinda cute in that nauseating lovie dovie imprint way. Eve really liked Carlisle and Esme. She loved gardening with Esme and she would sit on Carlisle lap reading medical books with him almost every afternoon. Carlisle was the only man she took to other than my brother. I think even Edward was a little jealous of it. He wanted so bad to help her but he was starting to realize that it would just take time.
Chris was already adopting Emmett's personality. He was a little brat and no one but Rose could keep him at bay. He and Harry were getting along great. Harry wasn't as advanced as the hybrids but Chis and my son had some sort of secret language that only they understood. Rosalie always made sure that Chris was careful with Harry and she adored him as much as her own son. It made me glad because if anyone on this planet knew how precious those two were it was Rosalie. Rosalie and I had secretly become friends over the past couple of months. She would bring Chris to my room to play and we would both get a laugh at all the crazy things he would come up with. Bella and Nessie would often join us and towards the end of my stay with the Cullens, Eve, Esme and Alice would join in. It was strange that I could actually find things in common with the leeches but I did. Unlike Bella, I actually loved fashion. I wasn't as obsessed as the little she devil pixie but I could hold my own.
Bella and I only had two things in common, Nessie and Jacob but seeing as we were stepsisters we tried to make it work. We actually found a similar interest in movies. I wasn't much of a reader but I loved all those sappy movies that were originally classic novels. We had a few movie nights with the girls while the boys took Chris out to teach him God knows what. I would never admit this to them but I was going to miss living with them. I would especially miss the room service. Esme, Bella and Edward were unbelievable cooks. Esme's cinnamon rolls alone could make you orgasm. I really had to get the recipe for those. Aw well. I was home and there's nothing like being at home.
"So what do you think?" Nessie asked me as soon we walked up to the house. Mom had moved in with Charlie so Seth and I got the house, but after Seth left for college the house became mine.
"I love it!" I told her. They repainted the entire house. When I entered through the door, my jaw actually dropped. I saw new furniture pieces mixed with the old ones. They also did some unnecessary child friendly upgrades including hardwood floors instead of the shaggy stained carpet I had before. As they walked me through, I saw they also did a little work in the kitchen and I had all new appliances, granite counter tops, and a new larger layout. I'm pretty sure the cabinets were new too.
"Oh my God! What did you guys do?"
"Well you know how aunt Alice gets. And the boys helped put a lot of the stuff together. And grandma Sue and grandpa got you the new sofa." Nessie informed me. I couldn't even believe it. I had tears welling in my eyes so I blinked a few times to try to get them to go away. I sure as hell wasn't going to get emotional over a house makeover in front of everybody.
"This is awesome. Thanks you." I told her quickly. She just smiled at me her little Nessie smile like already knew how much this meant to me.
"Girl, you haven't even seen the upstairs. All we really did down here is paint and wallpaper. We put in some new floors and appliances come see what we did to your old room." Rachel said as if that list she mentioned was nothing.
Rachel grabbed my hand after I handed Harry to mom and she pulled me up the stairs. Emily and Nessie followed right after us. I could hear the boys opening the fridge and eating my food already. I hadn't been here for 10 minutes and they were already eating my food! They walked me into Seth's old room and I was shocked. The room had been transformed into a mature and modern guestroom for when Seth came home from college. Not that he would be spending any time here but if he did he definitely had a nice room to stay in. They took me to my old room and this time I actually gasped when I saw the nursery. Damn it! it was really cute and to my taste. Nothing too cutesy, but perfect for a little boy. They converted the master bedroom into a suite by adding a new bathroom. It made the room a bit smaller but it was nice to have my own bathroom for once. The room looked like a luxury hotel room and the bathroom looked like a spa. It was also to my taste which made me wonder how the little pixie knew what I liked. I sat on the corner of my new bed and took it all in.
"I can't believe you guys did this for me."
"The Cullens wanted to buy you a whole new house." Emily said. I opened my eyes wider.
"Yeah, like I said. You know how aunt Alice gets but I thought this might be a happy medium. At least until we get you used to the Cullen treatment."
"Yeah, I can definitely see why Jacob jumped ship."
"I heard that!" I heard him say from downstairs loud enough so that everyone could hear. They all laughed.
"Alright, I guess you didn't do an awful job."
"That means she loves it." Emily translated to Nessie. When did they become friends?
"Of course she does. Nessie did a great job decorating. You should have your own HGTV show!" Rachel told her.
"Wait, you decorated?"
"Yeah, I know your taste better so aunt Alice consulted me on a lot of stuff. She wanted to make sure you liked everything." She told me.
"You did good kid. Rachel's right. You could have your own show. I can't even believe this is the same house. It looks like something out of a magazine!"
Mom and Emily cooked some supper for us and I got to spend my first night at home with my son. He would outgrow his crib soon but at least he was growing as a slower rate than Nessie did. Carlisle was still looking into that.
It took him about a week after I moved home before Carlisle finally called us in. We decided to let Sam and a few of his pack member's in the meeting since Harry would be living in the reservation and Sam's pack needed to be aware of any changes that Harry would be going through.
"It seems Harry more than just a combination of wolf and vampire. We tried many tests and what we found is that some vampire DNA can mix with wolf DNA and some can't. Venom is lethal to wolves regardless of the vampire but DNA is different. When we joined wolf and vampire DNA the cells not only blend they neutralize each other and in Harry's case mutate at the molecular level. For all intents and purposes, Harry is a new breed. We don't know if he will phase or not, we don't know if he will become thirsty as he did when he was in the womb but we do know that he is not human. He's an immortal."
"What do you mean by become thirsty? Is he not thirsty now?" Sam asked.
"No." I answered, fighting the urge to go across the room and punch him in the face, "He eats human food. I ate human food all throughout my pregnancy except for a few days when he was craving blood."
"Wait so you drank blood?!" Jared asked me disgusted.
"Of course she did moron. It was for the baby." Jacob growled at him.
"All I am saying is that this may be a possibility and when he does you will have to take him hunting in our grounds." Carlisle said to bring us back on track.
"Can he be dangerous?" Sam asked and was rewarded with several hateful looks.
"No. Harry is exceptionally smart like Nessie and the other hybrids, he's just not as matured as they were. However, he understands what he is and what he must do if cravings emerge. I don't think he will be any danger. His development will be a little different. The growth spurts we saw during Leah's pregnancy have continued. He grows at steady pace, slow for a hybrid, but steady and then suddenly he has a rapid growth spurt for a period of time, then his growth slows back to his normal rate."
"Why is it happening this way? Was it the same for Nahuel? Duilio grew at a pretty steady rate."
"So did Nahuel. Like I said this isn't typical for hybrids. The growth spurts are further apart so there's a possibility that they might disappear but in any rate he will be developing faster than a human but slower than a hybrid if the growth spurts disappear. If they so stop completely, he would be full grown by 10 to 12 years but with his growth spurts continue it will be impossible to determine."
"So the only danger is exposure." Sam said again. He was looking at Carlisle trying to avoid the glares around the room.
"That won't be a problem. I don't plan to go back to school. I'm going to take him to the Cullen's for homeschooling with Chris and Eve so you won't have to worry about that. It's a quick run, anyway."
"Wait, so you're not gonna work. What will you do for income?" Collin asked.
"Leah is family. We take care of our family. None one in the pack has to worry about finances. Our family indebted to you and we have no problems helping out whenever you need. Alice would be more than happy to help any of you invest your own money, if you are more comfortable with that." Carlisle explained but Collin still had that I'm too stupid to understand look on his face so Jake stepped in for me.
"The Cullens and my pack are a family. We take care of each other. This is also the most practical option considering the circumstances." He told them.
"Fine. It seems you have everything under control. I already told the council that you and the baby could stay on our lands and that the new hybrids are also allowed with supervision until they proved that they are as controlled as Nessie." Sam told me. I was shocked. I couldn't believe he had already given the council the ok and he okayed Chris and Eve without us having to fight him! He got up and started heading out of the Cullen's house. I went outside because I wanted to talk to him. My cynical side simply couldn't believe that same was ok with this.
"Sam, wait."
"What?"
"Why are you being so supportive all of a sudden?"
"You've been through enough Leah. I'm not here to make your life more difficult. As long as our tribe is safe, I don't see any reason why your son can't live in the reservation."
"That's... really cool of you." I said skeptically.
"This isn't easy for me Leah. You don't deserve what happened to you but I've always known you'd be a great mother. You deserve that chance. And Harry really is a good kid. I was wrong before and I get that now."
"Thanks." I said still skeptical but I let it go I could see that he was still struggling. I felt Jacob put his arm around my shoulder and lean against me for support. We watched as the rest of them left.
"That wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would go."
"Yea well. It's Sam so who knows what the hell is up his manties."
"You ok about Harry?"
"My kid is special. I already knew that."
"True. He's gonna be ok."
Harry was my priority. He was already starting to loose his baby qualities. It made me sad that I would be skipping so much but since I decided not to work I didn't really have to miss anything. I was in the Cullen payroll which allowed me to teach the kids, make enough money to cover all of my expenses and then some. My principal was a bit upset but after I explained some of what happened she let me go without a fight. I actually managed to convince Nessie to go back to school in January so life pretty much returned back to normal with one exception. I was a mom and I was terrified.
The fear was my own paranoia. I was raped and my brain was not processing that very well. I kept it together for my son. He was my anchor, my whole world. It was easiest to put all of my concentration on him so that I didn't have to think about how I felt like someone was watching me. Or how I woke up an night in sweats because I had another nightmare about Levan. My son brought me so much peace and happiness that I simply couldn't let him out of my sight and the other's were starting to notice. So I got better at pretending, just like they got better at seeing what they wanted to see, me getting better.
Renesmee
Little by little life continued on its own. Leah, Eve and I worked together and we decided to leave the darkness behind us and concentrated on all the love we had at present. Leah was able to step right into the role of home school teacher. She became very close to my family to the point that she was as much family as Jacob or Seth. To my family, she was no longer Jacob's beta or just one of the wolves, she was family. The biggest surprise was her friendship with Rosalie. It was nice to see that aunt Rose finally had a female friend in the house. The entire family took active roles in educating the three new members of my family as they had done with me. Eve, Chris, and Harry were like brothers and sister. They played together and got into trouble together. Every once and a while they would include me in their games, but I was more like a big sister to them.
Eve, Leah and I also became quick friends. Eve was very fun to be around even with her issues. Slowly but surely, she started growing to be a spunky and edgy type of girl. She started accepting the men in the family, especially, Chis and Harry. She could keep up with the boys just fine. Chris was very affectionate. He was the typical guy, always interested in the latest video game or sports gear that came out on the market. He was a hybrid so his interests were always more advanced but he took after his dad in the sense that he was lighthearted like uncle Emmett. He had the ability to sense everyone around him as far as 2-3 miles away. Being that aware of the people around him made him preoccupied with what everyone was doing. He was always up to something, switching back and forth between the people or things that interested him. Harry was calmer than Chris and more like a human child than Chris was. His body still matured quickly but not as quickly as Chris. His mind was also closer to the age his body would represent but not exactly. He learned to talk within a couple a months instead of a week. He could hold a conversation with the complexity of an adult by the time he turned one. His body held the rounded soft features of a child rather than the angular proportions of a miniature adult like the rest of hybrids did. He liked taking his time to take things in. He was very protective of his mother and very considerate of her. Harry wasn't as affectionate as Chris who would easily give you hugs and kisses, instead he let his actions show how much he cared. He was very cautious and always tried to understand things from other people's perspective. In that sense he was very much like uncle Seth. Nevertheless, he still had his mother's attitude and mouth at times.
I was glad Leah convinced me to return to school. Shortly after I returned to the rez school, I realized that I had grown out of my high school years. I had missed my friends a lot and I missed the monotony of high school drama; however, by my second year in high school I was done with the high school experience. School drama just wasn't as amusing and I think my friends could tell that I was humoring them when we talked. I finally confessed how I felt to Anna and she forgave me. Reminded me that I have always been more advanced than her but that pretty soon we would all be in college and hopefully at the same level. I was ready to start the next stage of my life. I was ready to start college so I decided to take accelerated classes so that I could graduate a year and a half early. It meant that I started college a semester before Anna and Carol but they understood that I needed to move on.
Jacob was a big part of my decision. Our relationship was pretty much the same as it was before except that he finally allowed me to kiss him. But even in that arena he had all sorts of rules and restrictions. He would always put a stop to things whenever I tried to deepen our kissing. I finally looked old enough to be with him in public but he still didn't feel comfortable about it so I didn't try to push it. I started getting inpatient with him after I finally looked like an 18 year old and he still refused to let us get passed 1st base but I hopped that I would be able to sway him when we started college.
The entire family both vampire and shape shifter, moved to New Hampshire. The only non-imprinted wolf in Jake's pack was Embry so he decided to move with us to go to school. Uncle Seth and my father were starting medical school, Jacob and momma decided to major in liberal arts, Embry majored in business and I was also double majoring in art and music. The rest of the family stayed home to continue with the kid's education.
The family was divided into four homes deep in the forest. The main house, aunt Rose and Emmett's house, my parent's house, and the wolf den (as we liked to call it). However, this atrrangement only lasted for a semester. Once July came along, Carol, Anna and Brady joined us at Dartmouth. I was thrilled to have my friends with me but it was getting crowded in the 'wolf den'. Daddy suggested that Uncle Seth, Embry, Jake, Brady and Anna, Carol and I should get our own place near the university instead of living with the family. Uncle Seth declined the offer because he wanted to be close to Eve and Harry. Embry had been complaining about not being able to bring girls home so he was thrilled at the idea.
I really thought things would change between Jacob and I since I started college but it didn't. Not really. I was getting frustrated in more ways than one. I had a feeling that it was dad who was responsible Jake's hesitation to go beyond French kissing and holding hands so I was surprised when dad suggested I move out. It was strange packing up all my belongings but at the same time it was perfectly normal. I was a college student and I would finally be living on my own.
"You all packed, baby." Jacob asked from the door.
"Yeah, I'm just taking half the closet. I can always come back to get something if I need it. We're not that far."
"Or you can just get a whole new wardrobe!" Aunt Alice chimed in.
"Leave her alone Alice. My baby moving out is traumatizing enough." I heard momma tell her from downstairs.
"Don't be silly Bella! She's only twenty minutes away by car."
"Or ten with your driving." I told her.
"Ten minutes too far." She said. I could picture her pouting with her arms crossed downstairs.
I picked up my last box and headed out to my normal life.
The apartment was amazing, it was large, beautiful and pet friendly so that Daisy could come with me too. The boys' apartment was on the same floor as ours. We were on the top floor and both apartments took the entire floor so we didn't have to worry about loud neighbors. The apartments were already decorated by the time we moved in. The girls were delighted.
"This is the last box." Daddy said as he came into the apartment. The entire day he had a big smile on his face. He kept giving me an amused look every time I stared at him. Even momma thought it was odd.
"I thought for sure he'd be all gloom and doom. He's really freaking me out!" Leah said as she helped me unpack.
"I know! I haven't known him for that long but it is kinda strange. Its like he's happy she's moving out." Anna commented.
"Maybe he's happy in a good way. His daughter is entering a new stage of her life. He might be happy for her." Carol told them.
"Can't a father just be in a good mood?" Daddy said from the living room.
"Not if the father is you." Leah told him with a smirk as he walked onto my room.
"Well I am just happy because my little girl is all grown up. I'm proud of you." He told me.
"Thank you daddy, but I still think you're up to something." He rolled his eyes at me.
"I'm going to help the boys. I'm taking everyone out to dinner once you are done here. You ladies are all invited of course." He told my friends then he left. Momma, who was folding my t-shirts, stared at him as he left.
"Yep. He's definitely up to something." I giggled, unable to help myself, and we all finished unpacking.
We arrived at the restaurant around seven. The wolves were ravenous as always so daddy made sure to choose a restaurant that served big portions. The restaurant was not busy but it was still a popular restaurant on campus so daddy had called ahead to reserve some tables. We made our way in and the waitress let us to a private room. I caught the scent before we even reached the room. I made my way to the front and nearly ran through the doors.
"Duli!" I shrieked. He stood and smiled at me. I ran towards him at human speed. He caught me easily. He looked so different. No longer the man-boy, but a handsome young man. He looked like he was in his mid-teens maybe older. He was handsome, tall, and mysterious. He seemed more reserved but I could still see the love in his eyes. He hugged me just as warmly as I did and then he let me go so that he could hug momma. I looked at my father's satisfied face and I understood why he was in such a good mood today.
"You knew!" I accused him. He nodded and gave me his half smile. Everyone sat as they said their hellos to Duilio. I sat between him and Jacob.
"So what'cha doing on our side of the world?" Jake asked him.
"I'm here to fulfill my study abroad requirement for school. Dartmouth is an excellent school so I convinced Marcus to let me spend the semester here. Marcus trusts that I will be safe here so he allowed it. I was just as surprised as you all are. He only sent one guard member who will be staying with Mom and Dad for a while. She is trustworthy so you should have nothing to worry about."
"Marcus sent a letter to Carlisle last month. That's why we got you boys the larger apartment." Dad told us.
"Wait. He'll be staying with us? On the campus full of drunk college students?" Jake asked. I pinched him.
"I understand your concerns Jacob but I can assure you that you don't need to worry about me. I've been a Cullen before."
"I'm sorry kid. I'm really happy you're here but this is a college campus. Are you sure you can handle it?" Jake asked as he rubbed his side.
"I'm confident that I can. This is your territory. I can respect that."
"Yeah, I guess I already know that. Welcome home, kid." Jacob reached over and messed his hair to make his point. I touched his hand and told him 'Thank you' using my gift. This was going to be an amazing semester!