Everything Is Different Now
Chapter 17
Hanover, New Hampshire
January 2013
The Cullen household has been in turmoil for many years. Lately, though, it has been exacerbated by
forces and influences unseen and the result has been tension and ill will amongst some of the family
members. Renesmee Cullen has had a difficult childhood and has suffered odd maladies throughout
her life. She aged rapidly and reached a physical adult stage in 6 ½ years. Her entire life has been
plagued with pain and sorrow. She experienced physical pain with the rapid growth of her body, but
her emotional makeup was full of strife and mental anguish. No one in the family could understand
why she was so depressed all of the time. There were no obvious reasons for her to be so consumed
with sadness. But the child had always been morose and suffered from inexplicable mental and
emotional fears and trauma.
In the middle of this month, Renesmee Cullen awoke from a nightmare screaming. Her parents
flashed to her bedside seeking to comfort and reassure her. From that day on, her mood and
emotional state declined markedly. She began to suffer panic attacks reporting feelings of
abandonment and crippling loneliness. Carlisle Cullen performed test after test, attempting to
identify the cause of the young woman's problems. There was nothing physically or chemically wrong
with her. It was strictly emotional and mental and her suffering eventually drove her father to make
May 4, 2013
Bella Cullen's POV
I didn't understand how my loving husband could be so dense, and so uncaring and unfeeling. Our
daughter was suffering even more now than she had throughout her entire life and we still didn't
know why. But Edward did. He had known since the day of her birth what was going on and he had,
in his infinite yet flawed, sadly mistaken wisdom, determined it would be a good idea to keep his
mouth shut. Oh my God, what could he possibly have been thinking?
He had always heard every thought in every mind around him for a wide perimeter. As long as he
had been a vampire, he had heard everyone's innermost musings. He still didn't hear mine unless I
wanted to lift my shield, but right now it was slammed down tight and that was just as well, for I was
furious.
Our daughter Renesmee was now 7 years old, and a fully grown woman. Her entire life had been a
struggle. Her rapid physical development was painful and difficult to put it mildly. She had been
plagued with a melancholy of spirit that had somehow pulled down the whole family with her. But
she had survived somehow and was now an adult and a beautiful young woman. Edward and I were
so proud of her. In spite of her physical and emotional difficulties, which we'd never been able to
pinpoint the cause of nor explain, she had achieved a maturity that belied her brief time on this
earth.
In January of this year, Renesmee's emotional status had taken a turn for the worse. She had been
depressed, even more than in years past, and had begun to have panic attacks that she explained as
feelings of being abandoned and left alone. Carlisle was totally devoted to finding a chemical cause,
certain that her status as a hybrid was the reason for her maladies.
Then, just last week, my darling husband decided it was finally time to reveal the real reason for our
daughter's problems. He'd known all along! The bastard! He said he wasn't sure and thought maybe
he'd made a mistake. Hah! The mistake he'd made was in not speaking up at the very beginning so
we would know what was going on and would have been able to handle it accordingly. What a
moron! I could kill him!
But not yet. Right now, our daughter's well-being and mental and emotional health was of the
utmost importance. She was number one on our priority list. And here we were on a plane bound for
Boulder, Colorado. Holy crow, what a chore tracking him down had been. It was as if he had ceased
to exist. Nobody in the state of Washington knew anything about him. At least, there was no one
who was willing to share if they knew anything. The stone wall we hit was formidable. They 'claimed'
they had no idea if he was even still alive much less where he could be located. I tried pulling rank
and invoking Charlie's name and that had absolutely no effect on any of them. Boy, I had burned
some bridges hadn't I?
It was only Carlisle's contacts that enabled us to discover his current location. It took calling in
several favors and greasing some palms. I couldn't get over it. When Jacob went underground, he
WENT UNDERGROUND! I was deeply saddened when I found out the emotional turmoil he had
undergone. I had never understood the depth of his emotional involvement. I certainly had never
been aware of the imprint that my ridiculous mate had kept secret. Edward was as selfish then as
ever and he was even more so now. He attempted to talk me out of this sojourn, but I had informed
him that our daughter's health and happiness depended on this trip and I'd go alone if he wasn't in
the mood to accompany me.
I had not been available to witness the 'happening' and Edward had been a bit preoccupied as well. I
had been busy 'dying' and Edward had been madly injecting venom into me to assure my
transformation took place as desired. But Edward had been privy to Jacob's thoughts. He KNEW!
He was aware that Jacob had made the decision to murder our little girl. He decided to stay with me.
I was dumbfounded at the revelation that he left our daughter's future to fate and didn't move to
protect her.
He heard Jacob's thoughts about murdering the 'demon spawn' and he even heard his thoughts about
how to overpower and kill Rosalie to get to the baby and rip it to shreds as well. He heard Jake make
note of the presence of the fireplace as a handy disposal location for the remains of Rosalie and
Renesmee. He then heard Jacob's thoughts rebelling against what transpired next. Edward HEARD
the imprint as it took place. And he said nothing. He heard Jacob's inner cries of anguish and his
decision to run and never look back. Edward decided for all of us, just as he'd always done, that his
opinion was best. He stayed mute. He let Jacob run. He let me grieve. He let Renesmee suffer from
the effects of having her soulmate abandon her, never knowing what those pains and emotional
agonies were all about.
No one knew but Edward. He never said a word. He was on my shit list for at least half of eternity at
this point. He was on Renesmee's shit list as well, though she would probably forgive him sooner
than I would. She'd forgive him even quicker if we could reunite her with Jacob and get some sort of
relationship started with the two of them. I wondered what sort of physical torment Jacob had
endured. Had he really despised the thought of being shackled to my daughter that badly that he
would disappear off the face of the earth so thoroughly? I wondered what would happen when we
arrived in Boulder. He didn't know we were coming. Dr. Frederick had no idea who we were and had
reluctantly agreed to an audience with her alone. This wouldn't be easy.
Boulder, Colorado
May 6, 2013
"Good morning, beautiful. How did you sleep? You didn't make any speeches."
"Well, that's good news. I slept very well thank you, and you?"
"Like a baby. Like I always sleep when I have you in my arms."
"I'm happy to know that. I can no longer sleep soundly if your arms aren't around me. I guess that's
a happy coincidence, huh?"
"It works for me. What's on our agenda for today? After breakfast of course."
"You always have that food thing on the top of your list don't you? Oh well, you're a growing boy, so I
guess that's okay. But I need to talk to you about something important."
"Okay, I'm game. Just let me snuggle you up here in my arms and you can tell me all about it."
"Okay, we can snuggle, but this is serious Jacob. I have learned some important information that
concerns you. I only found it out late last night and I haven't had the chance or the courage to tell
you about it until now."
"Damn, Laura, what is it sweetie? You're more uptight and tense than I've ever seen you."
"Well, it's because this is a big deal, Jacob. I don't know how this will turn out and I'm scared to
death."
"Baby, what is it? Tell me. I'm a big boy and you mustn't worry about me. I'll take it like a man, I
promise. No tantrums."
"Oh you're funny, you are Mr. Black."
"I'll be here all week."
"Hey, that's my line!"
"So? Never claimed that I wouldn't steal from you. As long as I can steal your heart, anything else is
open season."
"You've already got that. No need to steal it. Okay, here's the lowdown. We have visitors coming
here today. They are coming to see me, although they aren't aware that I know who they are, but
ultimately, they actually want to see you."
"Me? Are you serious? Nobody knows I'm here. Do they?"
"Well, I didn't think anyone did, but it seems that the institution in Portland wasn't concerned with
the privacy clause in the records and they revealed to a certain party where you're living now. They
are on their way here to speak to me, I think they are hoping to gain permission to speak to you."
"Wow, Laura, now you're making me nervous. Who's coming? Just tell me."
"Bella and Edward Cullen and their daughter Renesmee."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~EIDN~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Jacob? Breathe baby. It'll be okay. Breathe. I'm here. Right here. You don't have to see them if
you don't want to. I swear. We'll do whatever you want. Trust me."
"Why...are they...coming here...?"
"I'm not sure. I don't know. I have a suspicion they may have figured out something about the
original imprint. Maybe Renesmee is experiencing something that can't be otherwise explained.
They were already on their way before they called to tell me they were coming. I think that was on
purpose. That Edward guy is kinda pushy isn't he? Not that that Bella woman isn't pushy too, but he
was the first one I spoke to. Jacob? Look at me sweetheart. You are the love of my life. You are my
wolf. You are my mate. I am your imprint. I am your mate. I am your woman. I will not let
anything happen to you, nor will I let anything or anyone come between us. I swear to you, you have
nothing to be afraid of."
"God, Laura! I can't believe this is happening! I don't know what I'd do without you by my side. I
think you're probably right about their reason for visiting. I can't believe they tracked me down, and
I can't believe they've just now, after all these years, figured out what's going on. Are you really
gonna be okay with this? I don't want you to face them on your own. You should let me talk to
them."
"Absolutely not! I'll be fine Jacob. I promise. This is where I get to step up and fulfill my duty and
my promise to you. If I don't like the way they present themselves, I will send them packing and they
will never even breathe the same air as you. I get to protect you from them. Quite a switch from your
usual Protector role huh?"
"Yeah, quite a switch. I'm not sure I like it, but I guess I'd be foolish to just storm out there as soon as
they arrive. I'd probably listen to Eddie for 2 minutes and just phase and kill him on the spot. Then
Bella would probably attack and try to kill me and wouldn't that be a fine mess? I'll stand back and
listen while you run interference baby. You're a marvel. I love you."
"I love you too, Jacob. I'm glad I get the chance to step in front of you and shield you from
unpleasant memories."
"That phrase, 'step in front of you', has my wolf on high alert. Please, please be careful. Don't take
any chances with those monsters. They really can kill you in a split second and,...oh God, I don't
know if I can let you do this or not!"
"Jacob, don't worry, I'll be careful. It's not your dream. I swear. And you can be close. I want you
close. You can wait just in the next room, connected. I'd feel better that way anyway. Okay?
Please?"
"Okay sweetheart. I'll buck up and get a grip. I'll be right around the corner. Just call me if you need
me. I'll be right there. And if I don't like what I'm hearing, I'll be there even sooner."
"I will. Okay, now, let's get cleaned up and dressed and get some of Marie's grub. Our guests will be
here in about 2 hours and we'll be ready for them. Don't worry."
"Yeah, don't worry. Right, don't worry. Humph."