Chapter 9: Winter break - Renee

It was the first week of December that school ended for winter break. After going through my usual weekend routine I let Charlie drive me to the airport where I'd be taking the flight for Jacksonville. I would spend Christmas with mom and Phil and I'd be back to spend new years with dad as well as the last week of winter break. What I hadn't told him and mom was in on it so she'd cover for me was that I'd spend the second week in Mystic Falls with Damon.

The flight was long, tiring and took me from a cold place to a much warmer one. I was wearing jeans and a sweater when I got on the plane and as soon as we landed I felt the beads of sweat on my forehead so I stripped down to the tank top I had the sense to bring in my carry on bag.

I grabbed my suitcase and got out in search for Renee. She was waiting for me, coffee in hand, jumping up and down. I run to her (thankfully my months of working out helped my balance A LOT) and we hugged.

"Bella!"

"Hey mom"

She handed me the coffee and I drank thankfully. We went outside to see a bright sun, god I had missed bright sunny days, and the temperature was high enough that most people were simply wearing long sleeved tops and no jackets. I put on my leather jacket and we were ready to go, I made a mental note to go eye glasses shopping. We reached the parking lot and I saw a tiny bright green car (pic on profile). Renee unlocked it and we threw my bag in the trunk and we got in. I felt squashed.

"Who makes this car Fisher-Price?

"Come on it's not that small"

"Right"

We laughed about it and until we got to the house it was like I had never left. I had been updated on all the latest crazy ideas she had and fortunately fell through. I shook my head, life with Renee was never boring. We pulled in front of a small but cute house that seemed to be a 3 bedroom one. I took a quick shower and changed to something more weather appropriate and we went to get a light lunch at a nearby cafe. After lunch she tried to entice me with a beach trip and to my surprise (I definitely spent too much time in Forks) there were actually people in the water. We sat on a bench and spent the next hours people watching aka we mocked mercilessly everyone in sight. As the evening came we drove to a small diner/cafe Renee and Phil loved to go. We all laughed and enjoyed our night, Phil had gotten a job as a high school coach and he shared stories off the lessons.

I slept without dreaming after talking with Charlie for a while. Next day I woke up and Renee was still sleeping, big surprise there, I changed to my workout clothes and decided to go for a jog around the neighborhood, the weather was good enough so I was ok. I returned almost an hour later and after a shower I settled in for some stupid morning tv and a chat with Renee. Apparently Charlie had been talking to mom ever since Edward left me and she had a lot of questions. Why he really left, were we intimate and something went wrong, did he want someone else, did I want someone else? In the end I told her a much more human version of what happened, how Damon and I got together, were we intimate? Jeez what was with this woman and intimacy

"Mom, I'm still a virgin."

"you and Damon are together since September"

"Mid October actually and we take our time mom, we're still on second base, can we change the subject now?"

"Fine, but you're getting on the pill now just in case"

"OK, don't tell Charlie though, he'll kick Damon out"

"Deal"

We both put light jackets on and went shopping. Christmas shopping actually and since the weather was great thermal bathing suits, sunglasses and stuff for a pic nic. After a quick lunch and a lot of shopping we spent our afternoon at the beach. I had forgotten how good it felt to swim at the ocean. Edward hated beaches and the fact he sparkles was a killing factor in swimming.

The next days went on the same pattern. Morning coffee with both Phil and mom, then Phil would leave to go to work and Renee would drag me out for walks. I had forgotten what full day job mom was and I realized I would never be the same girl again. The one that was the adult and looked out for her mother. I liked doing that but I was different now. We would have lunch on beach cafe's, afternoons at home and evenings on restaurants.

On Christmas day Damon showed up right after dinner and Renee and Phil took us out to see the nightlife of Jacksonville. Early the next morning we exchanged gifts and Damon and I got in his rental car and drove up to Mystic Falls.