Chapter 23

A few weeks after Marcus had come and gone, the discussions regarding the return of the Volturi had been constant. Although they had died down from being the topic of every conversation to sparingly brought up, every day something was said in some form.

Darkness had just creeped upon them, and Jacob and the rest of the pack took Renesme to a golf course where they had been going sledding for years. The hills were huge and there was never a crowd. It was their own, secret little world of fun - at least when it snowed. Edward and Bella accompanied them for awhile, and Bella cringed every time Jacob gave her daughter a fierce running start and strong push down the hill. Her screams were filled with excitement every time his hands parted from the sled.

"She's fine," Edward assured Bella with a smile.

Bella laughed, "I know. I just remember all too well what it was like to be human, and how easy it was to get bumps and bruises."

"She's only half human," Edward reminded her, "Plus she's not as accident prone as her mother was."

She shook her head, smiling wide. He returned the smile and kissed her, then gave her a big bear hug, rubbing her back. They could hear Renesme's shouts in the darkness from the bottom of the hill.

Seth brought her back up to Jacob so he could send her down the hill again. She ran to Jacob, sled in hand, and he scooped her up, putting her over his head and twirled around before placing her back onto the sled. "Ready?"

"Yeah!" Renesme exclaimed.

Seth and Jacob counted together, "One, two, three!"

Renesme screamed and sailed down the hill, nearly knocking over Paul, who was on the way up.

"Come on, Bella," Edward said, "Let's leave them be. They're fine."

She nodded, "I'm just going to talk to Jake for a sec."

"Take your time."

Bella ran up to her friend and threw her arms around him, "Thank you, Jake. You're a really good friend."

Jacob hugged her with a smile, "You're welcome."

"Renesme, or Nessy, as you guys like to call her," she started with a grin, "She really loves being around you all. She has a lot of fun, and Edward and I, we love how protective you are of her. We feel so safe leaving her here with you."

Jacob smiled, "I know. I'm the greatest."

Bella smiled back, "I mean it, Jake. Thanks."

"You're welcome."

Renesme called up to them, "Mom, Dad! You guys can go back to the house! Jake's taking me to get hot chocolate at Charlie's after this."

Edward's face turned to a pout, and Bella knew how much he didn't like how easy it was for Renesme to part from them already. She turned back to Jacob, "I know it bothers Edward," she laughed, "I mean we spend so much time with her, but she feels okay being away from us already. And she's so young."

"I can send her home with you guys," Jacob offered, "If you want."

Bella shook her head, "No. No, that's not what I meant. She's having fun. It's not a bad thing. Just look at him over there."

Edward's expression gave away what he was feeling.

Jacob smiled and whispered to Bella, "Well now he knows what it feels like to have me steal a girl away."

"That's not funny, Jacob." Edward said from his stance a few yards away.

He shrugged and continued his chat with Bella, "What time would you guys like her home?"

"Whenever you're done at my dad's house."

Bella returned to Edward's side and they walked hand in hand away from the Quiluete kids.

"Now I know what Charlie must have felt every time I took you away from him," Edward told Bella, then added, "What he must still feel."

Bella shook her head, "Charlie's fine now. I mean at first, yeah. But he's happy. He knows we're happy."

"Masen has grown," Edward changed the subject, "Carlisle has measured him every day. I forgot to tell you earlier."

"That's amazing," Bella said.

Edward nodded, "I wonder how long he'll grow for."

"Hopefully it'll be the same thing as Renesme."

"Yeah, I hope. I know Alice and Jasper have been doing whatever research they can."

"Have they found anything?"

Edward shook his head, "Not yet."

"Masen's hair looks a little longer, too," Bella observed, "And Esme said he's been eating a little more over the last three days or so."

"His thoughts are more together. He's developing fast."

"Which could be a good thing, or a bad thing." Bella stated, but hinted that it was more like a question.

Edward nodded.

They approached the house. All the lights were on, the only form of life in the the dark woods that tucked the house away from the rest of the town.

Carlisle laid on his back on the middle of the floor with Masen held high above his head. He was devloping quite the belly laugh, which rung through the house every time Carlisle lifted him up and down, making a funny sound to trigger the baby's loud chuckle.

Bella couldn't help but giggle herself at Masen's contagious laughter. She loved seeing this silly side of Carlisle that he rarely showed before. It was cute, and comforting. The two of them wore matching gray sweatpants and blue hooded sweatshirts.

Rosalie stood leaning up against the open doorway, playing with her necklace and admiring the bond between father and son. She looked entirely happy, and sad at the same time. Bella knew she would give up everything and more to be in Carlise and Esme's shoes right now.

"I love his little laugh," Rosalie said, unable to contain a smile.

Carlisle looked over toward her, "I know, it's hilareous, isn't it?" He sat the two of them up on the floor and held Masen in front of him, who had a huge smile on his face.

"He wants you do to it again," Edward told Carlisle.

"You want me to do it again?" Carlisle asked.

Masen grabbed Carlisle's nose and cracked himself up again.

Carlisle laid back down on his back and put Masen in the air again, continuing the motions and sounds from before.

"I don't know if he can get sick," Esme said smiling from the table where she sat with Alice, "But don't get him sick."

He sat back up with Masen, "Mommy doesn't want you getting sick, my man. Play time's over."

"Moms are always the fun killers," Jasper commented without looking up from the XBox he was playing with Emmett.

"Boys are just always causing trouble," Rosalie shot back.

"Girls just hide it better," Jasper told her. He glanced over toward Alice and smiled.

"How's Renesme?" Carlisle asked, bringing Masen to join the rest of them at the table, "Is she having fun?"

"Yeah," Bella told him, "But Edward, not so much."

"What's wrong Edward?" Alice asked, "Jakey getting all your time?"

He shrugged, "I feel like she shouldn't be taken away from me by another guy until later in life."

"Too bad she was imprinted on by a weirdo werewolf," Emmetted laughed from the couch.

Edward hurled a decorative pillow from one of the chairs at the back of his head. Emmett turned his head around for a quick second and smiled, "You'll pay for that later."

"Edward," Esme said.

"Sorry."

"What time is she coming home?"

"They're going to Charlie's right afterwards."

"Oh, that's nice," Carlisle said, "I don't think he's seen her since our trip to Seattle."

"Yeah." Edward said, trying not to sound down.

Bella smiled, "Cheer up. She's with us ninety percent of the time."

"I know," he smiled back, "You're right. She's happy."

The video game ended and Emmett slammed the controller down. Rosalie shook her head.

"I take it Jasper won?" Edward asked.

"As always," Jasper told him.

"Hand over the mini me," Emmett said, holding his arms out.

Carlisle and Esme smiled as Emmett took Masen from them. He made noises, attempting to speak as Rosalie joined the two of them. A leftover mistle toe that they forgot to take down from Christmas still hung above them.

Emmett looked up and noticed it, "Uh oh, Masen. Mistle toe, you know what that means." He guided Masen toward Rosalie who covered him with a plether of kisses.

Everyone smiled at their interaction.

"It's nice to see Rosalie a little happier than normal," Edward whispered to Bella.

"She really is happy," Bella whispered back, "Masen has brightened everyone's spirits, just like Renesme did."

Edward looked over his shoulder at Alice, who was pouring glasses of a special wine that they rarely drank. It was a combination of traditional Italian wine and animal blood, and was used for very special occasions. He knew she was planning a toast.

Alice approached each of them with a glass, each filled about halfway.

"What's this, Alice?" Bella asked.

"Just drink it, you'll like it." Jasper smiled with a wink and a smile.

"Peer pressure." Emmett joked.

Alice raised her glass, "I thought the occassion was appropriate to have a special toast for our family. A lot of crazy things have happened over the last few years, and it has lead us to the happiness and togetherness that we're blessed with today. Edward fell in love with a human, and then married her and turned into one of us."

Everyone smiled and waited for her to continue.

"They by some miracle were able to have a beautiful daughter, our Nessy. She has been such an amazing addition to our family."

"Thanks Alice." Bella said.

Alice smiled, "And our latest Christmas miracle, is baby Masen. He has put a sparkle in everyone's eyes and shed a new light of hope that our kind can be blessed with something so sacred as a child."

Carlisle and Esme looked at each other, then back to Alice with an appreciate smile and nod.

She raised her glass, "This toast is to family. We are so, so blessed to have each other. This family wouldn't be the same if just one of us wasn't here. I love all of you. So, cheers!"

"Cheers!" Everyone said at the same time. They clanked their glasses together and sipped the wine. In that moment, things were perfect.