Chapter 19: Drawings and Dogs
(2 years later ~ 3 years old)
"Jasper, look at this." I said, holding out a piece of paper towards him. He took it from me and studied it.
"Did Renesmee draw this?" He asked, looking at the carefully drawn out picture.
"Daisy drew it." I told him. His eyes widened in shock, as mine had when my daughter had first presented me with her piece of artwork. The house she'd drawn was incredibly accurate, her lines impossibly straight for a three year old's hand. In front of the house were ten people. Although they were cartoon-like, it was easy to see who each person was supposed to be; Carlisle and Esme with their arms around each other, standing on the top step of the house; Edward and Bella, both holding one of Renesmee's hands; Jasper and myself, with beaming smiles and Daisy on my hip; Emmett and...Rosalie.
Daisy had never met Rosalie, but she seemed to accept her as a member of our family anyway. She spent a lot of time with Emmett, looking through his memories of her aunt Rosalie, listening to his stories of his wife, and showing him pictures of her with her gift. At times, it seemed like Daisy had a better connection to Rosalie than she did to Bella or Esme.
"Our three year old daughter drew this? With no help?" Jasper asked, narrowing his eyes at me as if I was playing a trick on him. I knew how he felt. So, the picture was far from a masterpiece, but it was the best thing I'd ever seen drawn by a three year old. It was the kind of standard I'd expect from a nine year old.
We looked out the window to where Daisy and Renesmee were playing in their princess castle play house. Renesmee, ten years old now, had taken control of the game.
"I'll be the big sister," She was saying in an almost bossy tone, "And you can be the little sister. I'll be called Jessica and you can be-"
"Rose!" Daisy interjected.
Renesmee frowned, "Fine. I'll be Jessica and you can be Rose."
I frowned and looked back at Daisy's picture again, down at Rosalie's smiling face. "Do you think Rosalie will ever come back?"
Jasper shrugged, "You know what Rose is like. She'll come back when she wants to."
"I feel like I drove her away." I said, not taking my eyes away from the girl in the picture.
Jasper wrapped me in a hug. "Rose does what she wants, when she wants. No one could have made her leave if she didn't want to, and no one could have made her stay." He lifted my chin up so I had to look at him, "She'll come back."
We broke apart as Renesmee and Daisy burst through the doors into the house. Esme shrieked when she saw them, "Take off your shoes!"
They looked guiltily at the muddy footprints they'd left on Esme's sparkling white kitchen floor, "Sorry grandma."
Slipping of her shoes, Daisy leapt across the room and landed in my arms, "Hi Momma!"
"Hello beautiful." I said, smoothing her dress.
"Did you show Jazz my picture?" She asked.
"I did and he loves it, don't you Jazz?" I say, looking up at Jasper. He's smiling down at us.
"It's the best picture I've ever seen." He told her warmly.
"Lunch is ready." Bella called from the kitchen.
Daisy sniffed and then locked eyes with Renesmee, "Pizza!"
Whilst they raced to the kitchen, I frowned; Bella's meals were usually 'healthier options' - roast pork and vegetables, chicken salad, pasta. It was usually when it was my turn to cook that the girls got pizza and hotdogs, ice cream and pop tarts.
I followed them into the kitchen and found them tucking into a Four Cheese. "Bella?"
"Jacob's coming over. He specifically requested pizza." Bella said as she pulled a second pizza out of the oven.
"Jake's coming?" Renesmee asked, mid chew.
"For a few days." Bella confirmed.
Renesmee squealed in delight, "He hasn't been here in forever!"
Daisy was frowning, and she spat out the word, "Wolf."
"Don't be so closed-minded Daisy." I told her, sniffing the pizza and recoiling in disgust, "Remember he brought you a present last time?"
Daisy's eyes went dreamy, "Shoes..."
Daisy had only met Jacob once before, and no one had expected the meeting to go smoothly. Daisy was untrusting enough around vampires, let alone towards her natural enemy; a wolf. I'd clearly instructed Jacob that unless he brought a pair of shoes - preferably sparkly - then he wouldn't stand a chance against my daughter. He'd turned up at the doorstep with a pretty necklace for Nessie and a pair of shoes for Daisy. They were pink and white sneakers, the type that had lights which flashed when you stomped your feet. Daisy had hated Jake, but she'd loved the shoes.
She watched carefully as Edward entered the room, crossing and kissing Renesmee on the forehead. Whilst Daisy was slowly learning that not all vampires were a threat, she was still very guarded. She almost completely trusted Bella now, because she provided her food half the time. She was fine around Esme now, too, because her maternal quality was hard to resist. She grew closer to Emmett and Renesmee every day. She was still wary around Edward and Carlisle, but with time she was getting better. Soon, we hoped, she'd trust her family completely.
Daisy's nose wrinkled as they smell of wolf flooded the house, and Jacob opened the door. "Guess who!"
"Jakey!" Renesmee cried, jumping into his arms.
"Hi stranger." Bella said, giving Jacob a hug.
Daisy let out a tiny growl. Jacob held up a shiny shopping bag as an offering. Daisy immediately went quiet, then she looked up at him with big amber eyes, "Shoes?"
"For the little princess." Jake said, placing the bag in front of Daisy. She turned back to Renesmee, "And for the big princess..."
He handed her a big stuffed wolf. Bella rolled her eyes as Renesmee hugged it to her chest, "How hilarious."
Daisy tipped the bag upside down and a pair of sparkly pink shoes fell out. "Shoes!"
"What do you say to Jacob, sweetie?" I asked her.
Daisy looked up at Jacob, obviously weighing up whether the generous gift made up for her hatred of wolves. "Thanks."
"Good girl." I said, "You wanna put them on?" Daisy nodded vigorously and I slipped the pretty shoes onto her feet, "They match your dress."
Daisy beamed.
"Am I allowed to stay now?" Jacob asked.
Daisy hopped off her chair and skipped into the living room in search of Jasper. "Jazz! New shoes!"
"I'd take that as a yes." I told him, giving him a hug.
"So, what've I missed?" Jacob asked, making himself at home and stealing a slice of Nessie's pizza. As Renesmee started to give him a detailed account of everything she'd been doing since she went to Forks to see him two weeks ago, Bella and I went outside into the midday heat.
"Hunt?" She asked.
I nodded, and we were soon zooming through the trees in search of our meal. When we got back, I took Daisy from Jasper and he, Emmett, and Edward went hunting. I sat Daisy on my lap and tried to teach her how to make daisy chains whilst chatting to Bella. Jacob was playing with Renesmee on the other side of the garden.
"They're going to be so cute together." I mused as Jacob spun Nessie around. Bella frowned at me, "When she's older, I mean." Bella looked uncertain, "If you think about, you're actually really lucky. You know who she's going to end up with; you know that he's a good guy, and you know that he loves her more than anything, you know he'd never do anything to hurt her." I looked down at Daisy, "Daisy could end up with anyone. What if she ends up with a drug dealer, or some tattooed gang member?"
Bella threw me a look, "How likely is that?"
"Jake would never break Nessie's heart." I mused, glancing across the garden at them once again.
"You know if any boy hurt Daisy he'd have the full Cullen wrath come down on him." Bella reasoned, "Edward and Carlisle wouldn't let anything hurt her, and Emmett's almost as protective of her as Jasper is!"
I lifted Daisy up to look at her, "You'd better have a good taste in boys. I don't want to have to move house because your uncles beat up a guy."
Daisy giggled innocently, and I sighed. "Don't grow up, baby girl."
I'd absently strung together a line of daisies, and I tied them around her wrist, "Daisies for Daisy."
On her wrist next to the daisy bracelet were the two bracelets she'd been given on her first birthday; Renesmee's home made pink friendship bracelet, and her Cullen crest. On her second and third birthday, Jasper and I had bought her a charm to add to the bracelet. When she turned two it had been a heart charm; when she turned three it was a sparkly shoe.
Jacob and Nessie called Bella over to play with them, so I was left happily chatting away to Daisy about boys and dates and dresses. Jasper came home from hunting and sat down beside us on the grass, "How are my beautiful girls?"
Daisy giggled as he planted a kiss on her cheek, and I smiled and kissed him on the lips. "Just talking about Daisy's love life."
Jasper frowned, "She's three."
"She's going to grow up. She'll date eventually." I said, playing with the daisy chain on her wrist.
"When she's a hundred, then maybe we'll talk about it." Jasper said. I threw him a look.
"Jazzy look!" Daisy said, holding up her wrist for him to see. "Daisy!"
"Beautiful." He told her, tucking a strand of curly brown hair behind her ear.
I lay back on the soft grass and stared up at the blue summer sky, "I could stay like this forever. I don't want anything to change."
I meant the words, but - as it always does - life was about to change.
A/N: How d'you like a slightly more grown up Daisy-May? ;) The next chapter is going to skip another 3 years to when Daisy is 6 :)
By the way, Renesmee is 7 years older than Daisy so she was 10 in this chapter.
If there's anything you want to see in upcoming chapters, just let me know and I'll try and weave it into the story :) Thanks to everyone who's reviewed! Anyone who reviews gets a sneak peak of the next chapter before I update! :)