Chapter 3: The Loss of a Daughter

Bella's POV

Pain. Unimaginable pain. Heartbreaking, devastating pain. That's all I have felt for the past 16 years ago. When Edward left me I had thought that would be the most painful thing that I would ever experience in my life. I could not have been more wrong.

16 years ago Edward and I were blessed with something that we had never even imagined was possible. A beautiful, and special baby girl. A baby girl who, despite the fact that her father was a full fledged vampire, had been born completely human. Not a trace of vampire seemed to exist in her.

When I was giving birth to her I had several life threatening complications. Because of this I had to immediately transform into a vampire to be saved.

Renesmee's birth was a blessing to the whole family. She was well loved and well cared for and protected by every member of this family.

About a month after her birth she began to cry more and more often. At first we all thought she had colic but when Carlisle examined her he found her to be perfectly healthy. Yet, my daughter continued to cry. It got to a point where she spent nearly all day and night crying. Well, I think screaming might have been a more accurate discription. Even to a vampire it was ear splitting. She would even start scratching at her throat. I still remember how terrified Edward and I were that she was going to accidentally hurt herself when she would start scratching her throat. Yet when Carlisle examined her again there was nothing physically wrong with her.

Now I would give anything to hear her cry again. Absolutely anything. I didn't even know if she was still alive or not.

I remember the night very very clearly. She was about three months old. We all needed to go hunting badly. I hadn't left my baby's side since I had first hunted three months prior. My thirst was getting to the point of being unbearable by then. So I left Renesmee in a crib that had been set up in one of the guest bedrooms. We had left her alone. I had left my own baby daughter alone. That was the worst and most costly mistake that I had ever made in my life. I should have never left my baby girl alone. Yet I never thought that Jake would be capable of doing something like this. In fact I refused to believe that Jake had any part in the disappearance of my daughter. I refused to believe that he would do something so cruel and heartless.

When we got back the stench of wolf lingered around the house. Whoever had taken her was part of the pack. The wolves had always been against my pregnancy because they thought I was carrying a monster, even thought I knew that was far from the truth. Jake had been even more against my baby then the other wolves had been because he was afraid of what my baby would do to me. But I refused to believe that Jake had anything to do with the disappearance of my daughter. I refused to believe that he would do something so cruel. I refused to believe that he would even be capable of doing something so cruel. It had to be one of the other wolves, it just had to be.

We could never find out the truth though. All of the wolves were gone when we went onto the reservation (treaty be damned). We have searched and searched and searched for our missing girl all of these years. We have never once given up the hope of finding her alive and well. We refused to believe that she was dead. She couldn't be dead. She just couldn't be dead! My daughter couldn't be dead she just couldn't be!

"Bella are you feeling okay?" Edward asked me, even though I was sure he knew exactly how I was feeling.

"She would be 16 years old Edward. She would be nearly grown my now" I cried.

"We will find her Bella. I promise. We will find her. No matter how long it takes" Edward vowed. "Anyway the others are waiting for us and wondering what is taking us so long"

"I guess we should go back now" I said reluctantly. Sometimes I just wanted to be alone. To dwell on the very few memories that I had of my daughter. But I knew that Carlisle was expecting us back soon and if we didn't get home soon he would start to worry. It didn't matter that we were all nearly indestructible vampires. He considered us all his children, except for Esme of course, and therefore he tended to worry about us like a father would.

"There you two are!" Emmett boomed. "What were you two doing back there that was taking so long, creating another baby or what?"

Sometimes I really wanted to murder my 'brother'. I really did. But I learned a long time ago that sometimes ignoring him was the best option.

That didn't stop Rosalie from whacking the back of his head though. That made me smirk.

"Wait do you hear that?" Alice asked as we all approached the house. We all stopped for a minute and we listened. We heard the sound of four distinct heartbeats coming from the house.

"That is weird. Very weird. Maybe Carlisle brought some of his patients home?" Esme questioned.

"He has never done that before. Also there is four heartbeats that doesn't make any sense" I said.

Edward remained unusually quiet for some reason. His eyes widened in surprise for some reason.

"What is it Edward?" I asked as we entered the house.

"It's Renesmee. Our daughter. She's here. Carlisle found her"

My mind literally went blank. I could not comprehend the words that Edward had just muttered. They couldn't be true. Could they?

I didn't even think. I just ran. I opened the door to Carlisle's study. Which was also a makeshift hospital room. The first thing I saw was a young, beautiful girl, about 16 years old laying there Her chocolate brown eyes stared right into my golden ones. In that instant I knew. I could feel the connection there. A connection that only a mother and daughter could have. My heart was telling me that she was mine. It was only when I noticed a second heartbeat resonating within her that I finally tore my eyes away from hers and took in the rest of her appearance. My eyes rested on her stomach. She was pregnant. Judging by her appearance I'd have to say that she was about six months along.

What made me even more emotional right now was the fact that she was wearing my pajamas. The very same maternity pajamas that I had been wearing when she was pregnant.

I stared right into her eyes again. Unsure of what to say or what I should do. I wanted to hug her so badly, but I was a stranger to her. But there was nothing I wanted more then to have her in my arms right now.

Then she broke into a smile. If I could cry I would have been in a puddle of tears by now.

"Hi I'm Renesmee, and you are?"

"I'm your mo-err Bella" I quickly corrected myself before I could say my true identity to her. I wanted to tell her, but I could not do that just yet.

"You're really beautiful" she said to me.

"Thank you. So are you" I told her with a huge smile on my face. "So how did you get here? Where are your parents?" I asked. Surely she had a family that was looking for her. Right?

"Really long story. Carlisle is helping me right now and a couple of kids that I take care of. I don't have any parents, or a family, or a place to call home. I'm what they call a street kid. I'm homeless. I've been homeless all of my life"

I actually felt myself go into shock and I didn't even think it was possible for a vampire to go into shock. Homeless? My daughter was homeless? She didn't have a home? Or a family?

I clutched my chest as I actually felt pain for the first time in my vampire life. Maybe it was not a physical pain, but an emotional one. My daughter grew up without the love and care of a home and a family. How could life have treated her so cruelly? Why was she denied love, shelter, and security? The worst part was that it was all my fault that this had happened to her! All my fault! If she had been with her real family she would have always been loved and taken care of.

"Not even my real parents cared about me. I was dumped in a sewer when I was a baby. It's a miracle that I even lived. A sewer. What kind of parent does that to a baby?" her voice had started to break and then she began to cry.

I couldn't help it anymore. I took her into my arms and I hugged her. I hugged as tight as I could as she cried. To my surprise she did not reject the hug, but rather she hugged me back instead.

I have a question for all of you. Should I do a Jacob POV next so that you can all see what he's been up to all this time? Or would you rather I do some Bella-Nessie bonding in the next chapter? Please let me know in a review!