Disclaimer- All recognizable characters are the creation of Stephenie Meyer, and therefore not mine.
A/N: Sorry it took me longer to update. There is a whole list of reasons that contributed, but I won't bore you. Also, I totally messed up the last poll that I thought I put up. It was supposed to be about what you wanted this chapter to be. It's still up on my profile but its too late to actually implement the results. Let me know if you want the other option to be an outtake or something. Here's the chapter.
Bella's POV-
I returned to Washington earlier than I had originally anticipated. I had accomplished everything that needed to be said and done in Volterra already, and figured that I missed my baby girl too much to wait around for another two days. This time when I boarded the plane, I felt a little less anxious than the first time I had settled in for a trip to Washington, but not by much. I trusted that the Cullens would keep her safe. The longer I was away from her, the more I began to second-guess my decision, but I tried my best not to freak out.
When I had finally reached the Cullen home, Alice was already waiting with the door open for me. She offered me a smile as I walked up the stairs toward the door.
"Hi Bella. Welcome back." She said. I nodded politely at her as I walked through the door. She closed it behind me, and we walked to where almost everyone else was. Of course Renesmee was missing from the group. That would have been too ideal.
"Where's Renesmee?" I asked.
"Nessie's with Edward." Emmett informed me, but it took me a moment to get past the nickname.
"Nessie? Like the Loch Ness Monster?" I asked. Emmett shrugged and chuckled. Rosalie looked worried, and almost ashamed.
"Sorry. It's just a nickname we came up with because Emmett is too lazy to just call her by her actual name." She spoke the last part accusingly toward Emmett, and he put his hands up as if to surrender.
"In my defense, Renesmee is sort of a mouthful." He said, and Rosalie flicked his ear.
"Ignore him, Bella. If you'd prefer, we can stop calling her that. Renesmee is a lovely name. Esme's really honored. She smiles every time somebody says Renesmee's name." Rosalie spoke, very nicely I might add. I shook my head.
"No need. It just caught me off guard, that's all. Everyone's always just called her Renesmee, or sometimes I call her Ren, but most of the time it's just Renesmee." I explained, and she nodded, seeming genuinely interested in what I was saying. "So…where did you say she was?"
Rosalie looked to Emmett and Alice, unsure of herself. It was odd coming from her.
"Umm…I think Edward was planning on taking her to your old meadow, assuming it's still there. He was talking about it the other day, and she said she wanted to go." She informed me.
"Oh, okay. I think I'll go check. Anybody want to come?" I offered. They all cracked a smile.
"Nah. Edward thinks that place is sacred. He'd get mad." Emmett explained, keeping his eyes glued to a game on TV. I looked to Alice to see if what he said was actually true and she nodded. I shrugged and walked out, running in the direction of the meadow. I didn't remember exactly where it was, but I could pick up on Edward's scent, so I just followed it. Soon enough I found myself close enough to the meadow that I could see them.
They were seated near the middle of the meadow. Edward was leaning back onto his hands with his legs stretched out in front of him while Renesmee was leaning against his right side. They were both smiling. It was sort of heartwarming.
"So what happened after that? You can't just stop there!" Renesmee yelled playfully at him. He smiled a dazzling smile, and kissed the top of her head.
"I promise I'll tell you later. For now, I think someone wants to see you." He told her and she looked confused. I guess he'd heard me coming. I walked into the clearing of the meadow and this time Renesmee noticed. Her eyes lit up and she quickly got up from the ground and ran to me. It didn't escape my notice that she was limping ever so slightly, but I think Edward looked worried enough about this fact for the both of us.
"Mom!' She yelled as she ran into my arms. "I'm so glad your back! I missed you." She said, and I weaved my arms around her.
"I missed you too, baby." I told her as I hugged her closer to me.
"Wait! You're home early, aren't you? I thought you said two more days." She pointed out.
"Yeah, well I finished everything I needed to do, and I missed you, so I decided to just come back early." I explained.
"Did everything go okay?" She asked and I shrugged.
"Ehh, it went about as well as I thought it would." I answered and she rolled her eyes. I brushed a piece of hair behind her ear.
"Oh, stop. You know Jane. She's just protective of us." I defended, and tried not to recall some of the harsher words spoken in Italy. Jane was not happy that I was giving the Cullens a second chance.
"Well that's not exactly the word I would have used, but whatever." Renesmee responded, sounding like a stereotypical teenage girl.
"So what's the plan for tonight?" I asked, trying to change the subject. Edward was just now reaching where Renesmee and I were standing after walking over.
"We're playing baseball!" Renesmee exclaimed, but Edward was quick to cut her off.
"Maybe. Carlisle still thinks that your leg needs a little more time to heal." He told her and she pouted.
"I'm fine, I swear." She told him as if it was the fiftieth time she was repeating it.
"Ren—" He started.
"I swear I'm okay. My leg feels perfectly fine! You don't need to worry so much." She told him, and although he didn't say anything, you could tell the conversation wasn't over. At least I'm not the only one at the receiving end of her sass. "Are you playing, Mom?" She asked me, and I could hear Edward chuckle before he could stop himself. I almost smacked him.
"As fun as that sounds, I think I'll just watch. I've never been very good at sports." I said, trying to hide my smile. Renesmee looked between her father and I.
"Am I missing something?" She asked, and I smiled a bit, shrugging.
"I think everyone will be interested to see which parent you take after." I told her, unintentionally implying that she could play tonight. She caught on though and immediately turned to Edward.
"Ha!" She laughed at him, and he chuckled at her silliness.
Bella's POV-
I sat in the grass on the edge of the clearing watching as the Cullens and Renesmee prepared to play baseball. The thunder hadn't started yet, but Alice predicted that it was coming very soon.
Somehow Renesmee had talked Carlisle into letting her play. She has been excited all day, but now she looked frightened as she practiced her swing and listened to the rules.
"What's wrong, Sweetheart?" He asked as he placed a baseball cap on her head. She shrugged.
"I don't know." She said. He looked concerned and frustrated. I lifted her shield and Edward looked over to me with a small smile on his face before looking back to Renesmee.
"No need to worry. I'll help you." He told her. He showed her how to correctly hold the bat and how to position herself on the plate. The thunder started, and she practiced her batting with him guiding her through the motions for a few minutes. Once she seemed to get the hang of it, the game began.
Renesmee was on a team with Edward, Emmett, and Alice, and the other team was Rosalie, Carlisle, Esme, and Jasper. Renesmee's team was in the field first. She played catcher while Alice pitched and the other two were in the outfield.
She seemed to pick up the catcher position much quicker than she picked up hitting before. She was doing really well. I could tell she was still very nervous about batting though. I could tell because her heart was racing as she approached the plate.
"It's okay, Sweetie. Just do your best." Esme told her from her spot at catcher. Renesmee took a deep breath and held up the bat. The pitch came and she swung just slightly over the ball. She pouted.
"It's alright. You got the next one. Hold your back elbow up higher." Edward told her, and she listened, still pouting. The next one came and she swung again, but this time, she made contact with the ball. It flew to the outfield, just short of the woods and dropped. Jasper and Rosalie ran after it and Renesmee just stood there still surprised she hit the ball.
"Run, Ness!" Alice told her, and she took off, rounding first base and making her way to second.
"Looks like in this case, she takes after Eddie-boy." Emmett commented and Edward half-glared, amused by the comment, but not the nickname.
I continued to watch Renesmee run. Her speed still caught me off guard. She was very fast. As she approached third, I saw panic spread across her face as she tripped over her feet and fell. I immediately shot up, and went to her. When I reached her, Edward was already there.
"Are you okay, Renesmee?" He asked, and she started laughing.
"Yeah, I'm good, although I think Emmett might be eating his words right about now." We chuckled and helped her up. After that, Renesmee took a break to eat. Edward had thought ahead to pack her food in case she got hungry, so Renesmee and I just sat watching the Cullens play baseball while she ate.
"So I guess it's safe to say you've had a good time?" I asked her and she nodded, smiling a bit. She took another bite of her sandwich and I looked up at Edward. My head hurt just thinking about what to do. He broke my heart—No, he completely shattered my heart, and he left. For over a hundred years, I had to raise our daughter by myself, or at least without his help. He deserves my wrath, and a lot more…
But then again, I see him with Renesmee and my heart melts. He is a very good father whether he thinks so or not. Then there's the fact that every time he looks at me or smiles I get butterflies. And he still loves me. He wants me. I know I want him too, despite everything, but was it too soon?
I know that we'll eventually end up together. It's inevitable. We're mates and we have a daughter together. We're bonded forever by Renesmee. It would be easier just to say that I forgive him, and to start our life as a family, but then what do I make of the past hundred years of pain and suffering? There's no easy decision here.
I looked back down at Renesmee and saw her smirking at me.
"What?" I asked, suddenly feeling vulnerable. Had she just caught me ogling Edward? I hoped not. I knew what her vote on the decision was, and this wasn't doing much to help me.
"Oh nothing…" She said, sipping some water, and giving me a suspicious side-eyed look. "Have you thought at all about what I said?" She asked nonchalantly.
"Ren—" I began.
"I'm sorry. I just can't help but notice that you keep looking at him." She defended herself. I sighed.
"That doesn't mean anything." I responded.
"I know, I know. I was just wondering. I'm sorry for asking." She told me. We sat and watched the game in silence for a little while longer before I began speaking again.
"To answer your question, I have been thinking about it…a lot actually." I admitted and I saw her try to hide her grin.
"Am I allowed to inquire?" She pressed, and I looked down at my hands which were sitting in my lap.
"I don't know what to do, Renesmee. I really don't." I told her.
"You're thinking about it though?" She asked, smiling, and I smiled a bit at her very happy expression.
"Well it's hard not to. I like that you two get along so well. I wasn't sure that you would." I explained. She took my hand in hers.
"I know that nothing can erase the past, and a hundred years is a long time to suffer for, but I just want us to be able to move on. I know it's not the same for me as it is for you…but if you think about it, he's always loved you, so he's been suffering too. At least you had me." She said, and I gave her a look that symbolized that she should stop talking.
"Okay, okay. I'm done. I just want you to know that I'm happy, and I want you to be happy too, whatever or whenever you decide." She finished, and smiled. I hugged her to my side.
"I love you, Ren. I missed my happy girl." I told her.
"Ness, are you done yet?" Emmett called from the field. Nessie shook her head.
"You guys keep playing. I think I'm just going to watch with my mom." She told them.
A/N:
Again, sorry it took longer to update. There's been a lot going on in my life recently in addition to the fact that I can barely type with the long ass fake nails I have on, so yeah.
I split this chapter in half so I could update sooner, so I hope this is sufficient for now.
Review goal is 785. Let me know your thoughts, favorite part, questions, predictions, or suggestions.
Sorry for any spelling mistakes. As I said, these fake nails are impossible :/
Until next time, Taylor
***I graduate in 2 days, ahhhhhh.