Renesmee's POV-
"Bella, she's my daughter too. I deserve to know her." I could feel my dad's grip on my wrist tighten, pulling me closer to him.
"You don't deserve anything, Edward! She barely knows you. I'm the one who's raised her for the past hundred years. I made her who she is. I don't need you messing her up." My mother hissed back at him, pulling me closer to her once more.
"Guys, please stop fighting!" I pleaded, tears streaming down my face.
"I didn't even know she existed. You never told me that you were pregnant. You just left!" My father yelled, the pain evident in his eyes.
"Exactly! I never told you because I didn't want you to know. I am her mother, and she is my responsibility. I'm not going to spend the rest of my life trying to protect her from you." My father looked heartbroken. I tried to pull my hand out of my mother's grip, but she held on.
"Mom, stop! You're being ridiculous. They're my family." I told her. This time she actually heard my pleas.
"They're your family? Renesmee, this is not your family. I'm your family. Aro, Marcus, Caius, Demetri, Jane, Alec, Heidi—those people are your family. Not these people!" She yelled at me. I sobbed into my hands and my dad pulled me to his chest. I looked up at him, pleading for him to help me.
"Bella, I'm her father. I want to be a part of her life." He told her.
"Renesmee, do you want him to be a part of your life?" She asked. I breathed a sigh of relief. Finally we are coming to a resolution. I nodded, wiping the tears from my eyes. "Fine. If you're going to choose this stranger over your own mother, get out." She told me with a straight face.
My eyes shot open, and I struggled to catch my breath. I sat up from my bed and allowed my eyes to adjust to my surroundings. I could feel my body starting to relax as I realized that it had only been a dream. It scared me to no end to think about what would happen when my mother found out about what I'd done.
I took a deep breath and wiped the tears that had started falling down my face. I could only hope that my mother would be more forgiving of my decision than she had been in my dream, or nightmare rather. I looked at my phone. It was nearing ten o'clock in the morning. I thought back to last night, alarmed that I woke up two hours later than I normally did.
Last night was a fairly busy night to say the least. After shopping and running into my father in the hall, I talked to Aro for about half an hour before my mother called. Despite my horrible nightmare, my conversation with my mom was actually really great. I obviously didn't tell her about the Cullens staying here, but I told her that the first of the vampire clans came and that we went shopping for ball gowns. She even pretended to be interested while I described my dress to her.
We then talked about her progress with the vampire hybrids. She said that they had met them, but were still trying to gain their trust. She sounded really hopeful and happy, and my guilt about lying to her multiplied. We talked for another thirty minutes before she insisted that I get my sleep. We planned to talk again today in the evening because she didn't know what her plans for this morning would be. I promised I would text her and we said goodbye for the night.
Despite not getting any sleep yesterday, when I hung up the phone I wasn't ready to go to sleep, so, against my better judgement, I stayed up and watched two movies with the Cullens—aside from my father who was absent. When I realized that it was 12:30, I finally decided to cave in and get some rest.
I shot up from my bed, not looking to waste any more of my day and quickly got ready in the bathroom. I picked out a simple tan pleated mini-skirt and a plain white short sleeved top. I threw my hair in a high ponytail and slid on some nice sandals. I could hear my stomach starting to growl, so I headed toward the kitchen. I was surprised to find Esme standing in front of the stove cooking something.
"Good morning, dear. I made you some breakfast. Your grandfather suggested eggs and bacon. I hope that's okay." She smiled kindly and I gracefully glided toward her, sitting in one of the chairs on the other side of the island that the stove was on.
"That's very sweet of you, Esme. Thank you." I smiled and she gave me the plate of food she made. While I ate my food, we had a nice conversation about miscellaneous things; Me telling her about my love for the piano as she'd heard from her kids, and her telling me about her life— human and present.
Carlisle had entered at one point and he asked me a few questions about myself. Stuff like my diet, my traits from both sides, and a few questions about my mother and her pregnancy. I was able to answer them all as honestly as possible without giving too much away, at least I hope so.
I was getting ready to eat another piece of the bacon that Esme had so kindly made for me when I heard a number of screams coming from the direction of the throne room. I took a deep breath and set my piece of bacon back down on my plate. I could feel Esme and Carlisle watching me.
I had spent the last hundred years hearing the same sort of echoing screams every few days or so, yet it never got any easier. I knew what was happening. I had been unlucky enough to accidentally walk in on my family's "feast" a few times. Normally, my mother knew ahead of time and would warn me, but as I keep being reminded, she's not here.
"Thank you for the breakfast, Esme. It was really good. I don't think I'm hungry any longer." I told her. She gave me a sympathetic look and reached out to take my hand into hers. I smiled a little up at her.
"I don't suppose either of you have seen your children this morning, have you?" I asked after a few seconds. I tried to erase the massacre that had just occurred in the other room from my head. Esme looked to Carlisle, and I turned to look at him as well.
"Last I checked, Jasper and Emmett were going at it in the training room. I haven't seen Alice or Rosalie." He stated simply. It didn't go unnoticed that he had failed to mention my father.
"And Edward?" I asked. He looked up at me, surprised. He probably had assumed that my father had scared me away by now.
"Umm. I suppose he may be in his room. I haven't seen him either." Carlisle told me. I hopped down off of the barstool and headed toward the training room. On the way, I passed Jane and Alec who were in the base. As soon as I walked by, I could hear Jane start to follow me. I knew it was Jane because Alec was a heel-striker whereas Jane's walk was next to silent.
"Does this still qualify as stalking even if it's in our own home?" I asked her. I could hear her laughing quietly to herself.
I walked into the training room with Jane on my heels and found all of the Cullens in there. All of them. All of them including my father. I couldn't help a smile from crossing my face. When I walked in, Alice and Emmett were fighting. When Emmett saw me, he stopped for a second to acknowledge me, allowing Aunt Alice to take him down. I chuckled.
"Nice moves, Alice." I told her and she gave me a brilliant smile.
"Who's next?" Alice asked. I could see out of the corner of my eye that my father was alternating between looking at the floor and looking at me. I could feel my cheeks heating up.
"Nessie?" Alice challenged. I sighed, expecting what was about to happen next.
"Absolutely not." Jane said. I crossed my arms. Nobody ever let me fight. They always say that I'm too weak and that I'll get hurt, which makes no sense. If anything, I should learn to fight so I can defend myself against a real attack. I already knew the words she was going to say and imitated Jane by mouthing her words as she spoke them. "She can't fight. She's way too fragile." I rolled my eyes.
"Remember those words when they're written across my gravestone because I don't know how to defend myself." I retorted.
"That won't happen because you have me and everyone else to protect you. Just like I'm trying to do right now." I walked over to a spot against the wall and sat down. Jasper took my place, fighting against Alice. It scared me to know that if it ever really did come down to a situation where I had to defend myself like this, I'd be clueless.
Jane eventually left after she was summoned by Caius to the throne room. I was extremely thankful. As soon as the next match was over, I hopped up from the ground.
"I'm next!" I declared. The majority of the Cullens looked at me like I was joking as I made my way to the mat in the middle of the room.
"Who wants to be my opponent?" I covered my eyes with my hand and twirled around with my other arm pointing away from me, randomly choosing my competitor. However, as I was spinning, I lost my footing and started to fall. I barely started to lean before my father's hand was on my wrist, preventing me from falling.
"I'd stop before you hurt yourself." He said, sounding dreadfully similar to Jane. I groaned.
"I want to learn how to defend myself against a real attacker. I don't want to be thought of as some fragile little human that needs protecting." At the last part, I could see that his mind had wandered somewhere else and his eyes looked sad.
"Jane said not to." Rosalie stated.
"Thankfully, Jane isn't my mother. Even if she was, I am nearly a hundred. I can make my own decisions." If only they knew.
"I think it's a good idea." Emmett said.
"Of course you do." Rose mumbled.
"You already have the advantage because normally Edward would rely on reading your mind." Alice spoke quietly. My father immediately snapped his head in her direction.
"Hold on, why do I have to be the one to fight her?" He asked. I was a little insulted. I was actually really eager now. I'll show him not to be rude to me. Just kidding. It'd probably be like a mouse trying to fight a wrecking ball.
"Because you're already on the mat…and Jane doesn't like you anyway." Jasper answered for Alice.
"You're not scared of a little competition are you, Eddie?" I mocked him. I could see by his facial expression that he didn't appreciate my little nickname for him.
"Of course not, Princess. I just don't want to hurt you." He told me, a little annoyance in his voice.
"Are you sure? I think you're scared to lose to a puny human girl who never learned to fight." I guess I kind of threw myself under the bus there a little, but I could see that it got to him. Emmett was cracking up on the side of the mat, and a smile covered my face in response.
"Okay, little girl. Let's fight." My heart started racing. I was both excited and mortified at the same time. I didn't really think I could win. I just wanted to see if he'd give in. He crouched low on the mat and I imitated him, having no clue how one fights.
He came at me quickly and I dodged his attack. He was quick, but I was quicker. I smiled to myself. He looked surprised. I prepared for him to come at me again. He did so quickly, and I tried to pull the same move I did before, but it didn't work this time. He grabbed me by the waist and was about to knock me to the floor, but I somehow managed to flip over him, escaping his grasp.
Surprisingly enough, we went back and forth for a while. I'm not sure how long. At one point, he had me trapped in his grip. It didn't hurt, but I couldn't move. I wasn't sure if it would work, but I placed my hand on his arm for a second and sent a vision of complete and utter darkness. I guess it worked because he looked very confused, and I took the opportunity to pin him to the ground.
Following, I stood up quickly and placed my left foot on his chest, symbolizing my victory.
"Yay, I win!" I cheered. Everyone looked surprised. My father looked shocked. I offered him my hand, but he stood up on his own. Shit. I made him angry. I wasn't sure if I should say something, not looking to make matters worse. I had been staring at my hands until I heard him say something.
"Nice moves, Princess." I looked up at him and he gave me a slight but sincere smile before walking out of the room. This was progress.
Author's Note:
Hope everyone liked this chapter! I know it wasn't super exciting or action packed, but it helps develop Edward and Nessie's relationship.
No Edward's POV for this chapter, but the next chapter will have some. Do you guys like when I add in his point of view, or would it be better to just stick to Renesmee's thoughts? Let me know!
If I've said it once, I'll say it again. Thanks to everyone who reviewed, favorited, alerted this story and/or myself. It means the world!
Let me know any thoughts you have on the chapter or any predictions for later on. I'll also try to respond to questions if you have any. Until next time, Taylor.
P.S. I'm thinking of uploading on a weekly schedule on Sunday mornings, but with being off school tomorrow, I may decide to upload again, so be on the lookout (and review)!