Chapter 40: Reunions

~Charlie~

A small, warm hand touching my arm roused me from my sleep. I opened one eye to notice that the small hand belonged to the young lady that I was still not all that happy with. Lily stood beside the bed I shared with Sue, looking worried. After what she had done, taking my granddaughter away from Bella and Edward, it was difficult not to feel the aggravation and frustration that came when she was around me. "What's wrong?"

The little girl, chewed on her bottom lip, reminding me in a way of Bella when she had been younger. "Nessie says her throat hurts her, and you won't let me take her outside, but she needs to go hunting. I already hunted earlier."

Behind me I felt the small shift of the mattress as Sue moved before whispering to me. "Charlie, what is it?"

"Nessie needs to hunt," I answered, wondering how we were going to manage that. It was true that I didn't want Lily alone with Nessie apart from sleeping in the same room as my granddaughter, but there wasn't a whole lot of choice. I knew I wouldn't find anything with me being human, at least not in the speed Nessie needed. The mattress moved more before I felt Sue moving off of it. As she did, I sat up watching her go to Lily to offer her comfort. Maybe there was a lesson to be learned. Sue had more reason not to like vampires, and half vampires than me because of growing up on the reservation and because of what had happened to Harry. Leah and Seth transforming hadn't caused his death, but she had confessed recently that it hadn't helped matters either.

Not wanting to leave her alone, I got up following them down the hall to the room Nessie was sharing with her cousin. My granddaughter was sitting up in bed sniffing while holding her hand on her throat. As I began to approach she shook her head. "You smell good," she whispered sniffing more while at the same time hiccuping. Sue stayed back as well leaving Lily to comfort Renesmee.

"What's going on?" Seth came up behind us, scratching his head as he yawned, looking half asleep like I felt.

"Nessie's thirsty," I whispered.

My words startled him into being fully awake. "Oh, um, let me call Jake." Seth disappeared and I felt helpless not being able to give Nessie any comfort.

Lily was whispering something to her and Nessie's brows furrowed before her head shook.

"Mrs. Sue, the wolves aren't bad are they?" Lily asked as Sue leaned into my arms.

"No, they protect us all."

Nessie sniffed, "Not eat me?"

"No baby, they won't hurt you or eat you."

Seth returned informing us that Jake was on his way along with Leah. Evidently they were taking her hunting, only if we could get my granddaughter to trust them. Lily had informed Nessie that the wolves would eat her as a way to get her to stop screaming when they had been on that small island, and now that had come back to complicate matters.

"Grandah, you go now, it hurting," Nessie told me.

Sue and I headed downstairs to wait for Jacob. In the kitchen she heated up some bread made earlier in the day, while I got out two cups pouring some decaf into them to go along with the bread. "I didn't think about taking her hunting. Maybe I should try something," I said not liking what I couldn't control.

A moment later Sue was seated beside me at the table, handing me some of the bread along with the butter. "Jake had a feeling this might happen. He's willing to take her and take the responsibility. Leah isn't crazy about going but she's beginning to realize as we all are that none of this is the children's fault."

That was something I couldn't agree with, especially with Lily. "Don't defend that girl's action," I whispered, ever mindful that she could likely hear me.

"Charlie, she's just a child no matter how long she has been walking this earth. She wasn't ever taught to trust and was used by these things. If she's to learn right from wrong there has to be some understanding. I don't agree with her taking Nessie away from Edward or Bella, but it's happened and we need to care for both of them until their parents arrived."

It wasn't often that Sue spoke her mind so forcibly, and when she did, it reminded me of why I loved her. Yes she had been one of my very good friend's wife, and there wasn't a day that didn't go by that some memory of Harry slipped into my mind, but the fact of the matter was that his passing had drawn us together and I liked to think that he would want someone there for her, just like they had both been there for me along with Billy when Renee left with Bella all those years before.

We were washing the dishes we had used when Jake came into the kitchen wearing just his shorts. Leah was behind him in shorts and a t-shirt. "I want to thank both of you. I'll go get them," I said, though before I could move, Lily came in holding Nessie in her arms as my granddaughter hid her face in the girl's shoulder. "Hey lady bug, Jacob is a very good friend of your moms."

"Hurt me." Her voice was muffled, but it was evident that she still didn't trust him.

"Nessie, I won't hurt you. Leah and I want to take you hunting so that the burn in your throat will go away. When we get done we'll bring you back so you can see your Grandpa Charlie," Jacob tried.

My granddaughter didn't say anything so Leah went over to them. "I'm coming too, do you like piggy back rides."

Nessie's head bobbed as she nodded.

"Would you like me to give you a piggy back ride while we take you hunting? I used to give my brother Seth Piggy back rides, and we can go really fast if you want."

At that, Nessie lifted her face away from Lily glancing at me, "You here when I come back, and Lily and you not be mad her?"

"I'll be here and I won't be angry with her."

My granddaughter looked at Jacob and Leah a few times before she leaned out letting Leah hold her. Sue's daughter didn't show if she was uncomfortable about being asked to go with Jacob, and after Nessie blew some kisses our way they were heading out the door. My eyes were drawn to Lily as she glanced down at the floor. "Are you hungry?"

The second I asked her that, her eyes were on me. Lily looked surprised that I was talking to her and that made me feel guilty for giving her a hard time. "What do you want to eat?"

"I like hotdogs," she whispered.

"Hotdogs it is," I said as I walked over giving her a hug. Her hug was stronger than what I would have thought from her small stature, reminding me that she was different. After our hug we raided the fridge while Sue got one of the dishes we had cleaned and as Seth joined us.

~Jacob~

During our jog to further ourselves from the reservation, my thoughts were on the talk I'd gotten from my dad and Old Quil. They had both been concerned over the two half vampire children being on our land, and I reminded both of them how much we owed Carlisle and the rest of the Cullens for what they had done during the battle with the newborns. My father especially was worried that having them on the reservation would draw whatever was chasing Lily our way. I had explained to him what the little girl mentioned to Charlie about our land being protected by the spirits.

"How you get my deer?" Nessie's words got my mind out of the clouds

"Isn't that something you can do?" Leah asked as we began to slow down.

"They come to me, not afraid and my daddy make them so they not move. You do that too?"

I glanced over at Leah as she glanced at me. "Nessie, In order to help you I'll need to phase," I said

Her eyes got big before she began to shake her head. Leah knelt down and let Bella's daughter off of her back. Once she was on her feet I knelt down too. "I'm not going to hurt you. I know Lily told you that we would, but you are under our protection. Do you know what that means?"

She nodded, "Means you going to keep me safe."

How old was she again? "That's right. I don't think I can hold a deer still in this form. Do you like dogs?"

"Not have a doggy. Saw a big cat at the farm and him like me too."

Leah stood a little away frowning at me and I had a feeling I wasn't going to hear the end of this one for a while. She wasn't happy about coming with us, but I needed someone to stay in human form in case something went wrong, like scaring Renesmee. Before I could think about anything more Renesmee began to sniff.

"Smell good." She began to run and Leah and I kept behind her not letting her get any further ahead than a foot. When Nessie came to a stop, the youngest Cullen turned around looking at us. "You have stay there."

"Don't go too far," I said feeling protective of her.

Renesmee walked a little ahead of us before she knelt down. Already I could hear something approaching us and from the smell I began to feel myself shake, it wasn't a deer.

"Holy mother," Leah muttered as a wild cat came out of the brush.

It glanced our way before walking to Nessie, plopping down right in front of her. Leah had the right words for what we were seeing. With her staying put, I went back into the brush and phased. Nessie was too close to it, and it was Leah who came to the rescue asking her to move a little away along with telling Nessie to shut her eyes. Once that was accomplished I moved in pinning the cat down with two of my paws at it protested.

"Nessie, do you want Jake to um make it not move for good?"

When the little girl nodded, keeping her eyes closed, I snapped the big cat's neck leaving so Nessie could do the rest. A few seconds later I joined Leah as she sat by Nessie while the little girl drank. I was still in awe over what I'd seen. This little girl was going to be something else one day, and it was a damn good thing she was part of Carlisle's family. It raised the question in my mind that if there were children like Lily and Renesmee who were so strong, how many more of them were there. This rogue vampire who wanted the two children had a plan for them, and with that sort of threat, we were all in deep shit unless we worked together to find some answers.

A half hour later, Nessie was done and pretty much asleep on her feet. What shocked me was when she asked if I would carry her back. While we headed toward Sue's place, I realized that she didn't smell bad at all. Her scent was sweet but not bitter sweet like her families, and like Lily. Her scent reminded me of Bella.

"How did she do that?" Leah muttered from behind me.

"I don't know, part of the gift she has. It make's since in a way why that vampire wants them."

"I was thinking about that. We need to figure something out, maybe start working with the Cullens. I don't like the idea but this leach has something going on."

The sky was beginning to lighten when we got back. Charlie was waiting for us on the porch and when he took Nessie she snuggled against him evidently no longer uncomfortable with him around. He thanked us for taking her hunting before going inside.

Leah was already heading back to my Dad's place so after getting into the cover of the woods I phased finding Seth on patrol. We shared my thoughts and he was just as impressed and in awe as Leah and I had been with Nessie's little trick.

I wonder what this means for us. Someone needs to talk to Donavan and see if there's anything in the tribal records about beings that can shift from one place to the next and still be in physical form when they get to that place.

Donavan was our historian and if anyone would know about something that off, he would. He loved our history even more than Sam, who had been learning from Donovan until the whole wolf thing happened. Dad and Old Quil said they had never heard of anything like that before, though both of them admitted that they didn't know everything about the tribe's secrets, if there is anymore, which I could bet there was. Look after your shift head over to Sam's. I want to have a meeting. We need to talk about what part we're going to play in all this. I need to go to Anna's and check in.

Once Seth was on task, I headed away from Sue's place toward Anna's house. She was worried about us doing anymore than helping Nessie and Lily. Being barely fourteen Anna was still getting used to all of this change, like we all had at one time. The good thing was that Emily was taking her under her wing, and my sister was too, so Anna had some support there.

~Edward~

Landing in Seattle had ended our long flight, and once Bella and I were in our rental with Anthony asleep in the back of the Volvo in his seat, my longing to see my daughter became even greater than it had been. It had been a real relief to get that call from Charlie, letting all of us know that Lily and Renesmee were under his care. Of course the news that our niece had moved them again had been taxing on both Bella and me along with the rest of us. The rest of the family was driving in two other cars somewhere behind us while I maneuvered our car out of Seattle toward the interstate that would take us to Forks and our little girl.

"I can't wait to see her," Bella said as she reached for my hand. When I offered it to her she held it to her cheek sighing. "I'm still not sure what I'm going to say to Lily when I see her. One thing is for certain, she's not going to go anywhere near Renesmee or Anthony for a very long time."

Bella's anger toward our niece was warranted, though my own anger had subsided. Charlie had informed us of Lily's outburst about needing to protect Renesmee from her vampire father and this being she was constantly referring to as him. We needed to get answers from her, and I was hopeful she would be willing to share what she knew with us.

Alice had her own set of answers with her sister. Evidently Emily had been taken one day while she was playing outside. Alice said there were always rumors that her father was not Emily's father, that information coming from someone in town who had known of her parents, a local historian whose family had lived in Biloxi for generations.

"We need to see if we can get Lily to open up…" I began but my wife cut me off.

"No, I'm done Edward. I don't want to look for answers anymore. I want to take our babies and I want to get them as far away from her as we can." Bella's voice shook as she talked, and it confirmed that she had been holding in her emotions since we got to Rio to find the rest of the family frantically looking for Lily and Renesmee.

A moment later we were pulled to the side of the road. I had already taken off my seat-belt, and was holding my wife in my arms. "I want nothing more than to do that, but this problem isn't going to just go away on its own. We won't leave them anymore, however we have to find out why this is happening and put a stop to it so that Anthony and Renesmee can grow up and not be afraid of what is lurking around every corner."

My wife took in a few breaths even though it wasn't something she needed to do, while I rubbed my hand over her back placing kisses on top of her head. "I know you're right, it's just so hard Edward. Renesmee has been through so much already."

Our daughter had been through more than enough in her short life and my only hope was once we got through this, which we were going to do, that she wouldn't be overly traumatized.

After a few more moments in my arms, Bella moved away from me. "Thank you for that."

I reached out running the back of my hand over her cheek as I remembered how that used to bring a blush there. "You have no need to thank me my love, none at all." We leaned toward one another and kissed before getting back on the road

An hour later Anthony was awake fussing, ready to be out of the car to stretch his legs. While Bella talked to Charlie, I changed Anthony's diaper while he rested in the back seat. "Sis sis," my son said. He had been saying that a lot since Lily left with his sister.

"She's with your Grandah."

Once he was clean, I put Anthony down on the pavement holding his hand as we walked toward the small restaurant. Anthony liked eating meat now, more than any other food and had a liking for cheeseburgers. Inside he let me hold him and at the counter I ordered a kids meal for him while the girl taking our order starred at us, more specifically at me. At one point her manager had to remind her that she needed to take care of our order, at which time she blushed. As she got Anthony's food in the little bag, she noticed the ring on my finger and her thoughts were on what a disappointment that was. After thanking her for getting our order, I headed back out to the car finding Bella standing against the back with her eyes shut.

"What is it?"

My wife opened her eyes smiling as Anthony leaned out for her to take him. "Nothing, I'm just ready to get to Forks. Charlie's back at his house with both of the girls. He told me he was mad at Lily at first but is realizing she can't be blamed."

While Bella talked we got Anthony back in his seat. My wife asked to drive and as she did that I tore off pieces of meat handing it back to our son. "I don't know how to feel about Lily. I talked to Rose while you two were in there. She said they don't know how to handle the situation, as in punishing her."

"It may be better to see how things are once we get there. I bet she's punished herself far worse than what any of us could do. Lily seems to know she messed up, according to your father."

My wife smiled. "Dad said Jacob and Leah took Renesmee hunting, and that she was able to draw a big cat out of the brush."

When Bella shared that information, I drew in a breath of air. "What did he do?" Just thinking of my baby next to a cat that might cause her harm was enough to make me want to throttle Jacob Black when we got there.

"Evidently Dad was ready to take his shot gun to Jacob," My wife said as she shook her head.

"Good, I'd have done much worse if you wouldn't have told me just now."

Bella glanced at me. "Edward, as scary as it sounds, she was in control. Dad told me that Renesmee backed away and had her eyes closed while Jacob killed it. Leah was with them."

That was news. Leah had never liked our family and her thoughts were always the loudest of the members in her pack. "So he killed it and that was that?"

"Evidently, and now Renesmee is always asking when he will be around."

With my eyes shut for the moment, I said a quick prayer, thanking God that Jacob had an imprint. The last think we needed was for him to imprint on our baby girl.

"What's wrong?" Bella asked.

"I'm just saying a quick thank you to God for letting Jacob have an imprint."

"DA DA DA," Anthony yelled reminding me that he was still hungry. I tore off another piece of the burger and handed that last piece back to him. When he finished I handed back a sippy full of blood, wanting more than ever to see our little girl.

It was half past one in the morning when we arrived at Charlie's house. His truck was the only one parked in front, and a porch light was on. Without a waking Anthony, I lifted him out of his seat cradling him in my left arm before following Bella toward the house. As we walked to the front door, it opened and Charlie was there looking tired. He reached out and a moment later my wife was hugging him. "Charlie we can't thank you enough," I whispered once they parted.

"It wasn't a problem. I'm just glad they are safe. Bella, Nessie wouldn't sleep without Lily, I'm sorry I tried."

While she talked with Charlie, I headed upstairs already hearing the girls breathing from Charlie's room. I walked past there to Bella's old room, relieved to see a pack n play set up for Anthony. When I laid him down in the bed, my son shifted rolling over on his stomach where he remained asleep. With him settled, I went back down the hall and into the room where my little girl was sleeping. Bella was already there sitting on the edge of the bed just watching as she slept.

"I'm sorry," Lily whispered.

While Bella stayed where she was, I went to the other side of the bed and sat down. A second later Lily was in my arms and her mind was on everything at once. She shook as she thought about the voices she had been hearing, and through her thoughts I could understand the fear. "Shh, you rest now, and we'll get things figured out tomorrow."

Her head nodded and once she was back in bed, I tucked the covers around her kissing her forehead. "No more moving," I said looking straight into her eyes.

She nodded before closing them.

Back on our daughter's side of the bed I knelt down, reaching out to move a few strands of hair from her face. Renesmee sighed, remaining asleep. She had grown in the past two weeks since we had last seen her and didn't have as much of the baby fat that she had when we were last together.

"She's so beautiful," Bella whispered.

Outside I heard a car pulling up and could hear Rosalie's thoughts, both worried and relieved that they were finally home.

Lily stirred and sat up again. "Can I go see my Mommy and Daddy?"

I nodded and she was out of the room before I could blink.

By morning the whole family was back together, and Renesmee had yet to leave Bella's arms. Emmett and Rosalie had taken Lily to hunt and to talk to her about how wrong it had been to leave with her cousin, while Renesmee couldn't stop talking about her friends in La Push, especially Seth. While she ate, Bella was holding her. "Daddy, him have games like Unca Emmett do. Seth show me how play Portals. Them are robots and they jump into holes and they can make holes and make other robots fall down them."

I was aware of the game. Jasper had gotten that once and they had made it through the game in only a few hours.

"That sounds like an interesting game."

"It is. He have old game and it have Kingdom Heart and I play that one. It have Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. Seth say them on cartoons. We get them for me?"

"Renesmee eat your eggs before they get too cold," Bella reminded.

Our daughter giggled, "Oh yeah, I forgetted that."

While she was finishing her breakfast, Charlie walked in holding Anthony. Our son leaned out and I took him hugging him close to me. It was such a relief having our family together and some part of me thought about what Bella had said last night about taking the kids and just running to keep them safe.

"Sis Sis," Anthony said as he leaned toward her and Bella.

"He wants me," Renesmee told both of us as Anthony reached for her opening and closing his hands. Once Bella made room on her lap, I put Anthony there beside our daughter. He leaned against his sister as she hugged him. "Miss you Anthony. I keep you protected. Daddy, the wolves not bad, Jacob say them protect us."

"That's right, we will all work to keep you safe."

Renesmee didn't get to add anymore as Anthony began to struggle to be let down. Once he was on the floor, he ran back the way Charlie had brought him. Renesmee got down as well running to the entryway of the kitchen before suddenly stopping. I knelt down hearing her thoughts, and she hugged me tight around the neck as I wrapped my arms around her. "You can play with your brother. Momma and I aren't going anywhere without you or your Anthony, I promise."

"Sis sis sis." Anthony toddled back in. When he saw we were hugging, my little boy joined in on the action resting his cheek against Renesmee's back. The tender moment didn't last long as he reached out ready to grab her hair. I blocked his small hands as his sister lifted her head away from my shoulder.

"No, that would hurt your sister."

Instead of being remorseful for almost pulling her hair, Anthony laughed before he headed back in the direction of the den. We were going to have our hands full with these two along with trying to find the answers and a way to stop Joham and this other threat.

~AN~

Alright this one is finally finished. I know there was a lot of POV changes but I wanted you all to hear them, they were important in the telling of this chapter. Okay so Jacob isn't calling them leaches. He's not that fond of them but he's also growing up some and since he's the Alpha of his pack he has to be an example. I had this whole thing in my head while my computer was down with him being the one to take Nessie hunting. Leah went with him because I want to stick with some of what was done in BD as Bitchy as she is, she's still his second in command. I know she wouldn't like going with him but at the same time in Jake's eyes he felt that another female being with Nessie would help.. So did he Alpha command it? maybe maybe not.. but anyway it was fun to write that.

Well what do you all think so far. i'm trying to bring it all together and get a solution and yes the Voluri will know soon enough as well. Review and let me know what you think, I'll try my best to respond. Thanks

~Ella~