Disclaimer: Stephanie Meyer owns all Twilight Saga and characters.
Renesmee
Our lives changed a lot after the confrontation with the Volturi and Picha Ka'l's arrival. It took him some time to get used to us but he finally was able to relax when he was around my family. It was maddening that for almost two years he flew around us but never came down to meet his imprint because of Harry. He missed so much of Leah and Harry's life and, because of it, Embry had to fall in love with a life he couldn't have. Embry left shortly after the semester was over and moved Seattle to be closer to LaPush. He also found out that Paul was his half-brother so they were both making an effort to spend more time together. Harry missed him a lot but he got to spend a few weekends with him. Nevertheless, Harry was also starting to really like Kal, even love him. It was a true shame that Kal missed so much because his presence in their life was starting to heal their family. Leah was actually happy and Harry was feeling more confident and relaxed. He didn't have to worry about his mom anymore and Kal, being his ancestor and all, made him feel like he had a real paternal connection with him.
Grandpa and daddy tested Kal and determined that he wasn't really genetically related to either of them. The eagle gave him a new a whole new body and set of genes but his spirit was linked to all the Quileutes. Not that it would have mattered if he was genetically linked. There were so many generations between Leah and Taha Aki that it would not have mattered, genetically speaking, socially it was still weird. The elders were beside themselves to have an ancestor in their presence and they gave Leah and Kal their blessing to get married. Leah and Kal had a small ceremony in at the beach at during spring. They were so excited that the elders even agreed to let my family attend the ceremony. Their wedding took place about three months before mine. I was Leah's maid of honor and she was mine so it worked out well.
Right after Leah's wedding, Rachel gave birth to my first niece, Paulina Sarah Lahote. Paul kept hoping for a boy throughout the pregnancy so that he could name him Paul. When they found out it was girl Rachel didn't want to disappoint Paul so she named her daughter Paulina. She shouldn't have worried about Paul being disappointed. He was beyond happy. Pauilina, Lina for short, was the cutest, happiest baby I had ever seen. I loved my little Lina. Chris and Harry were great babies but they were supernatural babies with a sense of awareness that paralleled an adult's. Holding Lina in my arms was such a different experience. She grew at a normal human pace, because, she was human. We didn't know how long that would last because, like Leah, Lina was linked to all three wolf bloodlines; the Uley's through Paul and the Atera and Black's through Rachel. There was a good chance that she would become a wolf but for now, she was just a little baby girl. She was warm, funny and completely innocent. Everyone in the family gushed over her but the biggest surprise was Paul's reaction to his little girl. He was extremely protective but also extremely mushy; it was funny to watch. I could tell that he was going to be putty in her little hands. Jacob and Embry were also extremely protective of their niece. Having Lina around brought both men closer to Paul, Rachel and eventually Rebecca. They were all a family, united by this beautiful little innocent being.
The entire family was back at Forks preparing for my wedding. We were going to have it at the house, where my parents got married. Having it at the house also gave us the freedom to invite all of our allies in the vampire world. According to Alice, most of them were coming. I was excited. I was ready to start my new life with Jacob. Jacob and I had been spending a lot of time away from the family because Alice was driving us a little crazy. Almost every day, we would visit Lina and then we disappeared into the forest to talk.
"Where's that pretty head of yours now?" He asked me after I had been silent for a while. We were both laying on the grass, looking up at the grey sky. I had my head on his belly and he was stroking my hair. It was very relaxing.
"I was thinking about our future."
"What about our future?" He asked me. I turned my head so that I could see his face.
"I think that I want to move back here after we graduate." I confessed. It was something that was weighing heavily on me because I knew that my vampire family could not come with us, at least not publicly.
"That's gonna take some work. You know how it is with the pack, we need to get everyone together to see if its ok." He reminded me. That was another problem all together. Where Jacob went the pack usually followed. I didn't want to uproot everyone.
"I know Leah and Seth won't have a problem. They miss it here and grandma Sue isn't getting any younger. We all have family members that are aging. We should be with them while we still can."
"That's true. I'm sure they won't mind coming home. I hate to be away from Embry, Quill, and Paul and Rach. I miss having everyone together in one place." He said frowning.
"Me too. Carol is up for it but Steven will take a while to finish school since he started last, plus she wants to go to grad school." Jake shrugged his shoulders and looked up at the sky again. Still stroking my hair. Relaxing.
"Well they won't really be affected by us moving. Steven and Brady are probably going to stop phasing soon anyway."
"You think?"
"Oh yea. Brady is ready. He'll probably marry Anna after she graduates and move out to wherever Anna decides to go to grad school. Steven will have to soon because Carol is almost done with school. I don't know what will happen with Embry but I assume he'll stop phasing once he finds an imprint or a girl he likes. Quill still has a long wait and there's still Collin and the two new pups from Sam's pack that haven't imprinted so we also have a couple of new wolves who will need leadership. They'll start college by the time we move back but if they decide to keep phasing until they imprint, then I will need to be there for them." I hated that Anna was going to graduate so soon and leave us. She was already thinking about Yale to become a lawyer. The thought of being so far away from her made me sad so I tried to change the subject.
"I can't believe the pack is still getting bigger."
"Yeah well once it starts, its hard to stop. We have vampires in the family now so its just something that I'm going to have to deal with. Sam and Jared already have plans to stop phasing within the next few years so it will be perfect timing if we move back after we graduate."
"I'm glad because I want to start our life here. We could get a house that is closer to the border so that both of our families can come visit us and the kids." He looked at me again. His one brow was up, in a quizzical expression that made him look adorable.
"Kids?"
"Well Lina is going to need a little cousin or two to play with." I smiled and stroked his chest as I told him this. He laughed and maneuvered himself until he was on top of me. He kissed my lips softly before planting a sexy kiss my neck that made me buck my hips against his chest. Then he hovered over me, stopping with his fiery look. But then he shook his head before he spoke again. Tease!
"She'll have to wait, then. I promised your parents that I wouldn't get you pregnant until after you graduate."
"But I still have two more years!" He laughed at my pout and kissed it.
"I promise you that the day after you graduate we start trying. Besides," I giggled as he took me into his arms and peppered kisses on my neck, "I kinda like the idea of having you all to myself for a couple of years."
"Ok. But the day after I graduate you are giving me a bus full of kids."
"Maybe a van full. I don't think I can deal with a bus full of kids." He said with a worried expression that made me laugh.
"Deal! I hope they're all as cute at Lina."
"You really like being an aunt huh?"
"Yeah. I had the two most amazing aunts in the world. I want to be that type of aunt for my future niece."
"You will be. And you're gonna be an amazing mother, too. I love you, Ness."
"I love you too." We kissed for while before we went home. It was only four days before the wedding so following day I got my first guest arrival. Senna and Zafrina were the first to arrive. I was so happy to see them. Zafrina was one of my favorite nomads. I spent hours filling her in on the important events that happened since I last saw her. The Denali arrived the following day along with the Irish coven. Peter and Charlotte as well as Benjamin and Tia arrived later that night. The only one missing was Duilio. Alice promised me he was coming because he was bringing something very important with him and so I waited.
Harry
I was so glad that I looked too old to be a ring bearer. They got little Sammy Uley to do it. Sucker! Jake asked me, Chris, uncle Seth, Paul, Brady, Quill and uncle Embry to stand with him. Embry was the best man. He had been a bit depressed so Jake made sure that he knew he was still part of this family. I was feeling better about being back at LaPush. I wasn't happy about it but I was better and I got to see Embry a lot more. I missed him. As good as it was to have him around again, I really hated the stupid looks Sam's pack gave me. Kal noticed it too. His sense of smell and hearing wasn't as good as the wolves but his eyesight was far superior to both wolves and vampires combined. He also had a sixth sense about emotions because he was a true spirit warrior. He was connected to nature and to all of us. He could sense that they hated me and he became very protective of me. It was kinda sweet. He definitely wasn't Embry but he was a good father and... he loved me.
It took me a while to figure out what he was doing when he asked me to help him learn English. He was trying to build a relationship with me. It worked. I kinda loved him too. He helped me to own my gift and take control of it and understand it. My gift wasn't about paralyzing bodies, it was about trapping the spirit so that it didn't have access to the body. I would always be grateful to Kal for helping me realize that. He made me see that my gift wasn't about my connection to the 'sperm doner'; instead, it was my connection to my ancestors. It was my connection to Taha Aki. It made me so happy to know that my freaky muted genes transformed my biological father's gift to something that was related to ancestry. It made me feel more like a Quillayute and less like a the child of a rapist.
My only problem these days, other than Sam's pack, was Kara. She was back but she still wasn't talking to me. I went to the house, hoping to run into her but she was out with Nessie and Eve. I sat outside on the steps and waited for them. It was almost dark when they finally came back. Nessie and Eve went right into the house but Kara just stayed by the car and stared at me. She looked a little older. When I last saw her she looked like she was 3 and now she looked closer to 8. I myself looked around 10 or 11 so she was catching up to me. I left the stairs and went up to her.
"Can we talk?"
"I don't want to talk to you."
"Please… I miss you." She looked at me suspiciously. I meant to say I missed talking to her but I didn't correct myself. I looked into those big brown eyes and something inside of me stirred. I wasn't sure what it was but it compelled me to take her gloved hand. She let me which made me feel so damn relieved.
"Please…" I begged again. She just nodded her little head. She was so sweet. We walked to the small river by the house. I let go of her hand and started climbing the big pine tree by the river. I looked down at her.
"Are you coming?" She furrowed her brows but climbed up with me anyway. We started hopping from tree to tree until we got the cliff edge. We were both panting a little after our race.
"Ok, that was fun." She told me.
"Thanks for coming with me. I was afraid you weren't going to." I sat on a large branch and she sat next to me.
"I didn't want to. I'm still mad about before."
"Are you ever going to forgive me?"
"Nope." I frowned. She looked at me and then giggled. Was she trying to torture me?
"Please…" I begged.
"Maybe if you dance with me at Nessie's wedding, I will."
"Dancing?" I grunted at the thought. She laughed and punched my shoulder lightly.
"Nahuel has been teaching me how. He said that it is my duty to learn how to dance as a Latin American young lady."
"I don't know how to dance."
"Don't worry. I don't either, not really." I smiled at her and took her hand. She let go of me and it stung but then she took off her glove and took my hand again.
"You're the only one I can actually touch."
"Then I guess it's a good think we're friends again."
"It is. She agreed." We spent the rest of the afternoon playing in the forest. Chris and Eve joined us and we played hide and seek all afternoon. Chris was only allowed to hide, of course. I was happy she forgave me. It was like the sun had stopped shining and now it was sunny again. When I told my mom and Kal, they were both happy we had reconciled. Mom offered to teach me to dance so we spent a few hours dancing while Kal watched us. He looked bored most of the time but then he surprised us both by taking mom's hand and dancing a perfectly to mom's music. He claimed that he has been a good dancer in every life he had. Lucky bastard! Chris being Chris, gave me hell when I told him about the dancing part but I didn't care. There was something special about Kara and I would've done anything to have her like me again.
Renesmee
The day of the wedding came quickly and at exactly 11:30, on the eve of our wedding, Jacob was kicked out of the main house and I was kicked off to bed with Daisy. I already missed him and I couldn't fall asleep so I was able to hear when a last minute guest arrived at the house.
"Duli!" Momma exclaimed and I hopped out of bed and was downstairs within seconds. He quickly have me a big bear hug and spun me around. Daisy was as excited as I was. She loved Duilio too.
"Hello beautiful. Sorry I'm late but Alice had me make a pit stop in Rome. Apparently, my gift had to fly first class instead of fex ex."
"Gift?" He turned around and signaled one of his guard to come in. She had a box in her hands so she handed it to me. It was Grace, the same guard who stayed with us for a few weeks when Duli was with us at Dartmouth.
"Open it. You remember Grace, right? She's my personal guard slash date. I hope you don't mind."
"Of course not! You are always welcome, Grace." I said as I opened the box and found the most exquisite pair of wedding shoes I've ever seen.
"Oh, they're beautiful! I knew those ugly shoes aunt Alice put in my room couldn't be the wedding shoes!" I said excitedly as they all laughed.
"I'm glad you like them. I wasn't sure what to get you so Alice suggested these shoes. We had them made, especially for you. They can be your something new."
"Duli, they're perfect!" I told him as I hugged him again. We all moved towards the living room to talk for a bit. The whole family was happy to see him. Especially our parents.
"How are you adjusting to your new life?" Mom asked him.
"Its different. I am a master now and there are certain expectations that come along with that. I feel like I have to prove myself to everyone, especially Marcus and Caius. They're relentless. Even Marcus doubts my loyalty." Grace scoffed.
"He's doing a good job at proving yourself. Especially with the old guard." Grace told us. Of all of Duli's guard, Grace was always the more informal and comfortable around Duli. They shared a look and he smiled at her his half smile that indicated mischief.
"What's going on? What happened to the old guard?" I asked them.
"My power has increased. I can influence emotions, much like Jasper, only that my gift works by manipulating the soul so it has a more permanent effect."
"You can change souls?!" Jasper asked him surprised.
"No. I can magnify and decrease certain aspects of the soul that are already there. I can't make good people bad or vice versa. Emotions are easy because they're pliable. Its their nature to change but personality and the essence of a soul is more difficult. I can make Jane tremble at the thought of me. That feature is very nice." He said with a smug smile.
"But she knows it's you manipulating her doesn't she?" Grandma asked him.
"It only dulls the effect."
"How did you discover you could do this?" I asked him. His expression changed at that moment. Dad's expression changed too. We looked worried. Duli took a deep breath and moved forward.
"We'll talk about this some other time. I think we need to get you to bed sis. Its late and you need your beauty sleep." He got up and reached his hand for mine. I gave it to him and he walked me over to my room. It was silly but he tucked me in my bed and kissed my forehead.
"Did I ask something wrong?" I asked, worried.
"No. I didn't want to bring you down. This is a time for celebration." He explained as he sat next to me.
"Please?" He sighed and nodded.
"I was trying to make myself miss Aria less and to feel less guilty for what I did to her. It didn't work. I can't really manipulate myself which sucks because… it hurts."
"You loved her. Its supposed to hurt but you have to remember that it was an accident."
"I know."
"So, what's going on with you and Grace?" I saw how she looked at him and it always seemed to me that she had a little crush.
"Grace has been with us for a while. She's a sweet girl. She was a gift from my father once we returned. She's a shield. She has the ability to create an invisible barrier between herself and others. The barrier is mental but its physically impenetrable. The perimeter only ranges for about 15 feet but its enough to fit herself and me which is why Marcus appointed her as my personal 's liked me for a while but I'm not in love with her. She reminds me of you a little. She has a good soul, kind, honest, and a little sassy. She she likes me but she's not in love with me either. We've become good friends though."
"You'll find love again. I promise." He smiled at me his half smile but there was no mischief in his eyes this time, they were full of love. He kissed my cheek this time and tuned off my lamp.
"Have a good night, Mrs. Black. I'll see you in the morning." It took me a while to fall asleep but I finally managed to relax enough to go to bed. As I drifted away, I had a suspicion that a certain uncle was outside my door making me drowsy but I was too sleepy to care.
I awoke in the morning to the scent of breakfast and momma. She placed the tray next to bed and sat on the bed by me.
"My little nudger is getting married today. She said sadly."
"Don't be sad momma." I sat up on the bed and took her hand.
"I'm not sad its just… I feel like it wasn't enough time."
"I know." I hugged her.
"Take care of Jake ok. Sometimes, he actually worries me more than you do." She shook her head as if she was thinking about something Jake did. I smiled.
"You know I will."
"Ok, ok, eat your breakfast. I'm gonna get the water running in your bath." She got up and that's when I realized that my usual alarm clock was MIA.
"Where's Daisy?" I asked her as I looked around. Normally she would have woken me up by now to take her out.
"Your dad took her out this morning. You were up late so he wanted to give you a few more hours of sleep." She told me as she disappeared into the bathroom and I heard the water running. I ate by breakfast quickly and headed to the bathroom. Momma was adding bath salts and bubble bath. She still looked pretty sad.
"Momma, are you gonna be sad all day."
"No." Her voice didn't sound convincing.
"Oh mom." I hugged her again.
"Alright alright, get in your bath and relax. I'll keep Alice distracted for as long as I can." I laughed as she walked out.
It was a few hours before the wedding. I let aunt Alice take care of everything so I spent the day in my room with the girls. Leah, Anna, Carol, Rachel, Clair, and Eve were my bridesmaids. Lina was my flower girl and Sammy Uley was my ring bearer. He and Daisy were going to walk down the aisle together which he was excited about. The entire wedding was planned to the T. Aunt Alice made everyone practice numerous times the during rehearsal.
The boys were in the cottage getting ready. I wondered how it was going over there with all the wolves and vampires.
Jacob
It took me hours to finally fall asleep because I was so excited about the wedding. When I woke up Bella and Esme had covered every surface in the kitchen and dining room with food. Seth and the guys were already at it.
"Alright guys, I'll leave you in charge of Jakey. Make sure that he is ready to go by 2pm. I will try my best to keep Alice away." Bells announced as she placed the last platter of food on the table.
"Thanks Bells and thanks for the spread."
"No problem." I looked at her and she looked at bit off. I put my arm around her shoulder and led her outside.
"How'ya doing? Any words of advice?"
"Take care of my baby or I'll let Edward cut your balls off?" I laughed.
"Sure, sure. But seriously, you ok?" She had this sad expression in her eyes which made me worry a bit. Ness was the love of my life but Bella was still my best friend.
"Yea. It just seems like only I was tucking her in bed for the first time in that very house and now I'm here bringing breakfast to her wedding party in the same kitchen I prepared her bottles of blood."
"I know. This is a little weird for me too." I said nervously as I walked her to the Cullen property.
"You're not getting cold feet are you?" She asked me jokingly.
"Trust me my feet are warm and toasty but I do get what you are saying."
"You'll be a good husband Jake. You have nothing to worry about. Renesmee is a grown woman and she is ready for this. More importantly, she loves you. I think you two will be good for each other." I don't know why but hearing her say this made me get this warm feeling in my chest.
"Thanks Bells." Tere was a bit of emotion in my voice. I hopped she didn't notice it.
"My only advice is that you listen to each other. Sometimes, you both let the imprint and love guide you and you don't hear each other."
"I know, its hard not to though."
"I know." She stopped and smiled at me. She put her hand on my cheek and guided me closer to her so that she could kiss my other cheek.
"Take care of her like you always have and you two will have a long and happy life together."
"I will." I said as I hugged her.
"Good. Now go before your brothers eat all the food." I went back and had breakfast with the guys. We were all fooling around when Kal and Harry came over to get dressed. It got a bit tense for a moment with Embry there but both men behaved. Kal even got Embry talking about his new life away from the pack. They seemed to be getting along. I shouldn't have been surprised but I was. Kal was a good man and his connection to all of us made him feel protective of everyone in the tribe.
From the moment he remembered that he was once our ancestor, he started to take an interest in all of us. First with Leah and Harry and then with the rest of us. He would ask question after question about the new tribal traditions, the new pack, the previous pack, my sisters, my father, well, everyone. I was glad he was taking an interest. I could see why Leah imprinted on him. Leah had a very mother like senses of protection too. She was a bitch but she was also fiercely protective. She proved that the night she and Nessie were kidnapped. She proved that she was the strongest and bravest of us all. Kal was also proving to be just as protective as she was. It was hard to stay mad at the guy when he genuinely cared about you. He even took an interest in the Cullens. He resisted at first but after seeing how much Leah and Harry were loved by the Cullens it was hard for him to hate them. He, Edward and Carlisle became like a trio. He didn't like Edward's meddling at first but he got used to it.
Edward came in later with Duilio. They got dressed with us while Emmett, Chris, and Jasper dealt with Alice. It was their gift to me. The little pixie Nazi was driving everyone nuts and I didn't need the stress on my wedding day. She was annoying but it was endearing in a way. Nessie was like her daughter and she wanted this wedding to be perfect for her. I couldn't be mad at her for that. Duli came over to me and I guessed it was time for a man to man with the brother.
"I know mom, dad and the uncles already gave you the talk but…"
"I know, I know. I hurt her, you rip my nuts off."
"I'm glad we got that covered but remember that I have an entire vampire army to make sure it gets done right."
I put my arm around him and held him at a head lock. I knew he was letting me but I took advantage anyway and I messed up his stupid preppy Italian hair.
"Not the hair man!"
"You know you look like a doush, right?"
"Totally." Seth agreed with a mouthful of food.
"That's how the ladies like it, gentlemen. When is your dad coming?" He asked me. Duli loved my dad. He loved hearing the old stories when he was little as much as Nessie did.
"Actually, he should be here by now." I realized and started to worry.
"He is. He's at the main house. Do you want me to go get him?" Edward asked me.
"Yea, if you don't mind. Thanks Eddie." He rolled his eyes and walked out. When dad came in he was all dressed and ready to go. Over the years, he let Carlisle take care of his medical needs so he was walking with a walker now. It was good to see him up and about with the guys. Eventually Edward went back to the house to see Nessie and I went to get dressed. Dad followed me to the master bedroom and closed the door behind him. I was fixing my bow tie and he was watching me.
"Its times like these that I wish your mom was here."
"Me too. Do you think she would have like Nessie?"
"She would've liked her better than you, kid." I laughed thinking about my mom and Nessie. Of course she would've loved her. Dad sat on the chair by the bed as I finished.
"Are you nervous son?"
"A little but I can't wait. I love her so much dad."
"I know son. I know. She's a good girl and she makes you happy. I'm glad that you found each other." He was giving me this look that made me feel loved. Dad was always such a loving dad. I only hopped that, someday, I could be the type of dad that he was.
"Thanks dad." We both smiled at each other and headed back out to check on the guys.
Alice came over at 1 to check on us and once we were all Alice approved we headed towards the main house. Only one more hour and I was going to be married to Renesmee Carlie Cullen. I couldn't wait!