A World Full of Strangers
Disclaimer: All the characters in the story are the property of Stephanie Meyer. I have borrowed them for my entertainment and (hopefully) your reading pleasure. I make no profit from their use.
Chapter 4: Announcement
Now that the decision is made we begin to make our preparations to tell Renesmee. Carlisle is the logical choice as the spokesman, since he really is our "father," so to speak. When he tells her, it will not be presented as an option or choice. We are moving. She is coming with us, end of story. Edward and I go home to wait for her. I look around the cozy cottage with a sense of regret.
"Our first home," I say with a twinge of sadness. "I will be sorry to leave it behind."
"It's a stone cottage," points out Edward. "When we return in a hundred years or so, it will still be standing. We'll be sure to lock it up tight so that no one can get in. Besides, we will be taking everything that we can with us."
"How are we going to get everything up there so quickly?" I ask.
"It's amazing the kind of service that you can get if you have enough money," he answers. "And it's a good thing that we have eight pairs of strong hands because we'll never get a truck in here. But don't worry, Esme is an expert packer and . . . "
"They're coming?" I ask nervously.
"They're talking about the elk she took down," he replies. "And he's talking about that damn motorcycle again. It's too bad that the treaty says that we can't go on the reservation. I would go over and twist it beyond repair."
"Well, at least they gave me a dispensation because I'm Renesmee's mother," I say.
"No," he says. "You got it because she wasn't going there unless you went with her, remember? It's one of the few things that he didn't get his way on."
"What didn't I get my way on?" asks Jacob.
"We were just talking about the fact that Bella is still permitted to go onto Quileute land even though she's a vampire now," replies Edward smoothly.
Renesmee rolls her eyes.
"This whole treaty thing is so absurd," she comments sarcastically. "As if Grandma Esme and Grandpa Carlisle are going to slaughter the town."
Jacob winces. Lately, Renesmee has been feeling her adolescent oats and making her feelings known about a number of things, including the tension between the Cullens and the Quileutes. The Quileutes are getting the short end of the stick in these opinions. But it's really their own fault.
Because Carlisle and Esme have never been anything but gracious to the Quileutes, they are the ones tend to look obnoxious to her. And Carlisle, after he reset Jacob's right side after the battle with the newborns has made quite a few pro bono calls over there, including treating wolves, who for obvious reasons, can't go to the emergency room.
The fact that they let him on the land only when it benefits them looks churlish. Not to mention the many secondhand items that Esme has passed along over the years. My daughter is sharp enough to recognize a double standard when she sees it. Their generosity is welcome, but their presence is not.
"We're going over to the big house later to spend some time with the family again," I mention to change the subject.
"Is my Jacob coming?" asks Renesmee.
"No, this is just family time," replies Edward, as Jacob looks annoyed once more that he is excluded from the family at such times, despite (never realizing that it is because of) the imprinting. "You haven't seen your aunts and uncles for a while and they would like to have your full attention."
"And they don't like the smell," she giggles. "The first thing that Auntie Rose noticed when she walked in a few days ago was that Gran had aired the house out."
Now Jacob rolls his eyes.
"They were only too happy to have the dog smell around when they needed our help dealing with the Volturi," he says.
"So, Jacob," answers Edward pleasantly. "If you can crash our family party, can we come and crash your next big bash?"
Jacob looks incredulous.
"I thought so," says Edward, a bit grimly. "Why don't you go home and hang out with the pack or whatever it is that you do there."
Jacob glowers, but leaves without a word, having flinched at Edward's allusion to the fact that he doesn't have a job. One of the issues that any young suitor has to face, at least in Edward's world, is the acceptance of the girl's father. And not being a Quileute, Edward refuses to recognize Jacob's apparent "claim" on his daughter.
I tried to warn Jacob about how traditional Edward was. Back in Edwards's day, the burden of proof was on the young man to prove his worthiness as a husband and provider to the young woman's father. Jacob scoffed at the idea as old-fashioned, missing the point entirely. As much as I love Jacob, it irritates me to no end that the only traditions he recognizes are those of the tribe.
Jacob might have no romantic intent where Renesmee was concerned now, but Edward, through his mind reading, has already seen it coming. I am beginning to be concerned about the impending cultural war when Jacob finally does see Renesmee as old enough to be girlfriend and then wife. He was present when Nahuel explained that he and his sisters were full grown at seven years.
Edward's code of honor, which I had personal experience with, does not allow for the assumption that Jacob has made that he would just hand his daughter over when the time was right. Jacob's position as the Alpha in the pack is considered an excellent pedigree by Quileute standards. They have their own ideas about honor.
From a Quileute perspective, Jacob was the catch of his generation seven years ago when he first phased, at least among those in the know. In fact there was probably disappointment among the families of unmarried girls of the appropriate age when he imprinted in the half-vampire child of an inappropriate age.
I have heard that there were rumblings among the traditional elders of the tribe that they would not accept Renesmee as his wife based on her half-vampire genes. I was not at all bothered by their prejudice in this case.
At any rate, the point is moot. Renesmee will come with us and Jacob will have to make his own choice. Right now, she is sitting in the living room talking with Edward about the book that she is now reading, something by William Faulkner. As any young girl would, she is glowing in the presence of her adoring father, happy that she can keep up with his discussion of imagery and symbolism.
A couple of hours later, we run over to Carlisle's house, leaping over the river where Rose is waiting for us. Renesmee immediately rushes into her waiting arms and they walk to the house holding hands. Edward and I follow arm in arm. Edward frowns.
"I need to have a word with Rose before we talk to Renesmee," he says. "She is gloating over the impending separation from Jacob. It would not do for her to do that in front of Renesmee."
"I'll try to pry her away," I answer. "Since we don't know how Renesmee will respond, we need to tread lightly."
"Don't expect Emmett to," he says. "But then again, she's used to that from him."
When we enter the living room, there are hugs and kisses all around. There is no doubt about it. We have all missed each other. I notice Edward walking the perimeter of the room, listening for Jacob's thoughts, in case he has decided to eavesdrop. When he returns, Carlisle gives him a significant look and he nods.
"Why don't we all sit around the table?" asks Carlisle, but it is more than a request.
We sit around the table as couples, except for Edward and I who sit with Renesmee between us. She looks expectant. The only time that Grandpa Carlisle calls us around the table is if there is something important to discuss. Since she was a small child, she has always been included, although she has never been given permission to speak. This night will be the first time.
"Renesmee," says Carlisle. "The eight of us had a meeting yesterday and we have decided that in a month, we will be moving to Whitehorse in the Yukon Territory up in northern Canada."
The look on her face is shocked. I can see Edward is carefully monitoring her reaction and looks pained. Rose and I exchange a look of dismay. Carlisle continues.
"As you know," he says. "For the past couple of years I have not been able to work at the hospital because it became too obvious to the people in town that I am not aging. And the rest of the family have either been trapped here at the house or forced to travel far away from the others to maintain our secret. Your parents didn't mind because they were newly married and raising you. But we all miss living with each other.
"We have been here now for almost ten years. We have never lived in the same place for so long. It is time for us to start over. Your parents and aunts and uncles will be playing high school students again and you will go to middle school. I will be able to work in the hospital there, doing what I love and Esme will be able to have her family around her again."
Renesmee now looks even more upset. Edward's fists are clenched under the table.
"You'll like living up north, sweetheart," says Esme. "And we won't be far from Tanya's clan. You know how much you like Garrett and Carmen. And you'll be able to go to school just like other children do. We will show you how to act among the humans so that you can help keep the secret. You won't have to live in hiding anymore. What do you think?"
"But I can't leave," she says, now that she has finally been given permission to speak. "Jacob told me that I have to stay with him. He is my protector and my best friend. He said that when I am old enough, I will come and live on the reservation with him."
"He did?" asks Carlisle, looking at Edward, not the girl.
Edward slowly nods. Renesmee notices.
"I'm sorry, Daddy, but Jacob told me not to think about it when you were near," she explains. "He said that you might not approve because I was still too young. But he's my Jacob. He's always been my Jacob. I can't leave him."
"Well, if your Jacob needs to be with you," suggests Rose. "Then he can come with us to Whitehorse. But we can't stay here any longer. Everyone is unhappy here . . . except Jacob, that is."
"And me," she replies with a bit of spirit. "Do you think that Jacob will come with us?"
"Only Jacob can answer that," replies Carlisle gravely. "But you are a part of this family, not Jacob's. You stay with us. You are half-vampire, not Quileute."
"And you don't know how to live among humans," explains Alice gently. "The only place that you've visited is the reservation. You've never even been to town except to see Grandpa Charlie. And even then you can't go publicly."
"I'm confused," she says. "I have to talk to my Jacob."
"No!" says Edward suddenly.
Renesmee pouts.
"You are not going to ask his permission," he says firmly. "This is not his decision. I am your father and as your father, you will remain with me, with your mother, and with the rest of our family. If there is any asking permission that's going to happen, it is his place to ask my permission."
"Renesmee," I say more gently. "We all know how much you and Jacob love each other as friends. And he is like a big brother to you. But it is time for us to move. We have only stayed here as long as we have for his sake. But the nine of us cannot live our lives based on what he wants."
"You mean the eight of you!" she says freshly.
"Young lady, you will not disrespect your mother in that way!" says Edward sharply. "You are one of us."
"But Jacob says . . . "
"I don't give a damn what Jacob says," interrupts Rose. "This is what we get for catering to him for all these years. He has been trying to turn our girl against us with his mystical, magical stories of wolf bonding for years. If he wants to be with you, then he will have to follow us to Canada."
"That's the way that it is," says Carlisle firmly. "We will not leave you behind. And you are not old enough to make this decision for yourself."
"But I'm . . . " she starts.
"Technically speaking," says Edward. "You're almost seven years old. Intellectually, you could probably go to college and ace your subjects. In fact, you probably will someday if you continue to mature. Right now, you're not old enough looking to really even pass for high school."
"I don't really understand why things have to change," she admits. "I thought that you were tired of repeating high school, Auntie Rose."
"Renesmee," says Carlisle. "We explained the story to you long ago of how we became a family and why we all live together. Your parents and aunts and uncles were all changed while they were teenagers. Because they look so young, when we live in different places they play high school or college students. This is so we can stay together without causing too many questions by the humans. But if we don't keep moving, then people notice that we never age.
"Now the others go to school over and over so that we can all stay together. I practice medicine. That is something that I can only do among humans. It's one of the things that keep us moving. Whether you realize it or not, this is the life that you were born into. You are one of us and as you know there are very few of our kind in the world."
"But I'm not a full vampire," she says.
"Neither are Nahuel and his sisters down in Brazil," he says. "But they also live among vampires. From the research that we have done, you are not going to age anymore than we do. Based on their experience, soon you will probably stop aging. At that point, you will have the same problem that we do."
"I still think that I need to stay here for Jacob," she says with a bit of uncertainty. "What will he do without me?"
"I don't mean to sound harsh," replies Carlisle. "But that is his problem, not yours. Right now you need to stay with us so that we can finish raising you. There are still things that you need to learn about yourself, things that Jacob cannot teach you."
"Especially since he barely finished high school himself," mutters Rosalie. "He doesn't even have a job."
"He said that his job is taking care of me," she replies.
"That is not his job," says Emmett. "I don't know what you'd call it, but it's not like he can support himself, let alone you."
"I don't know what to say," she finally admits. "I need to think about it."
"Of course, dear," replies Esme.
"I'm going for a walk," she says.
"I'll come with you," says Rosalie.
"I want to go alone," she says.
Ignoring her, Esme says," I'll come too. The woods are beautiful at night."
Renesmee is too respectful to protest. Looking resigned, she leaves the house walking between her grandmother and aunt.
"This is more complicated than I thought it would be," says Carlisle. "What does she know, Edward?"
"Jacob told her everything about imprinting and what it means," he says glumly. "This is something that Bella and I told him specifically that he should not do. But she wanted to know why he was always with her. And of course, he couldn't refuse her anything. She's even talked to Emily about it. It seems that Jacob has taken it as a given that we will just let her go to him when she reaches full maturity."
"Then he won't refuse to come with her if she asks," says Emmett logically.
"I think he will," I reply. "I can't picture him ever living anywhere else."
"It seems to me that he is missing a key point in the equation," comments Jasper.
"If he is, then so am I," replies Carlisle. "What are you thinking?"
"You're probably right," says Edward.
"Just say it out loud," interrupts Emmett loudly. "I hate it when you do this."
"Remember how the wolf population exploded that year when Edward and Bella were married?" asks Jasper. "First it was in response to the newborns and then to all the vampires who were staying with us to give witness to the Volturi. Jacob has told us on many occasions that werewolves exist to fight vampires. No vampires, no wolves."
"And if we left, then they would stop phasing," says Carlisle thoughtfully.
"And once they stop phasing, they start aging again," I add. "That's what Jacob told me. But Renesmee is immortal. He will die someday, sooner if we leave."
"Yes, theoretically speaking," replies Carlisle. "He will grow into an old man and die one day. She will remain youthful forever. But what does she have left when he dies?"
"Maybe we should change him," suggests Emmet facetiously.
"We can't do that," answers Carlisle seriously. "Our venom kills the wolves. This is a very interesting problem."
"Well," says Edward. "Since he has made full disclosure to her, then we have to also. But she still doesn't get a choice."
"We can't give her a choice," agrees Carlisle. "This is a matter that is too important to put in the hands if a seven-year old child."
Silently, I agreed. I felt sorry for the pain that my daughter was bound to face, but as Carlisle said. This is who she was born to be. And no amount of wishing can change that. The look on Edward's face is still pained. Whatever else he picked up from her mind, he hasn't told us everything. I look at him and he squeezes my hand. I know that once we are alone, he will tell me.