Chapter 1: Unexpected Reunion

Nessie

I was terrified out of my mind. My water had broken this morning and the pain was getting stronger. Having no reliable source of transportation had meant that I had to walk from the homeless encampment to the hospital. If it weren't for my boyfriend Brian I would have been freaking out even worse than I already was. I watched as one by one people checked themselves into the emergency room.

With Brian's help I walked up to the front counter when it was my turn. "I'm in labor," I said as tears formed in my eyes.

She took one look at me and shook her head. "Insurance?"

I handed her my medicaid card. She punched in some information on the computer. "Do you have another insurance by any chance? This one is no good,"

I grunted as a wave of pain hit me.

"This is the only insurance that we have," Brian spoke up for me. "Can you try it again,"

"This insurance is no good," the woman sneered. "So why don't you step aside while I check in patients who actually have the ability to pay. Paying patients are my top priority,"

My eyes filled with tears. "Please. I'm in labor. I am about to have a baby,"

"Well then you can go have that baby in the middle of the street for all I care. I can tell that is where you belong anyway. Now get out of here so I can assist people who actually have the ability to pay,"

Brian was angry and I could tell that he wanted to say something but I pulled him gently away with me. "This is some bullshit," he seethed. "They shouldn't be allowed to do this,"

"What are we going to do? I'm scared. What if something happens to me or our baby?"

"We'll figure something out. Let's just sit down for now. It's okay. We've made it the entire pregnancy without medical assistance. Maybe-"

"Only because I couldn't get medical insurance until now,"

"Maybe-"

"Oh my god you two are still here!" I looked up and saw the woman from the front desk standing in front of me staring at me like I was scum on the bottom of her shoe. I was used to it though. Most people looked at homeless kids like us that way. "You need to leave right now,"

"Not until she sees a doctor,"

"No, you will both leave right now. This hospital is not a charity. Now you are scaring everyone else. If you don't leave I will have security remove you both by force,"

"Melanie, what is going on here?"

I suddenly felt as if all of the blood had been completely drained out of my body. My heart felt like it had just stopped beating. My body froze in place. It seemed as if my body forgot that I was in active labor when I heard that voice. A voice that I hadn't heard in nearly 18 years. I mustered up as much strength as I could to turn my head and saw, for the first time in almost two decades, my grandfather. Grandpa Carlisle looked exactly the same as I remembered him. Though I always knew on a conscious level that my family would always look the same no matter how much time passed it was a shock to see it true.

Grandpa Carlisle locked eyes with me for the first time and I could see clear as a bell the surprise in his eyes that he recognized me. Though I no longer resembled the five year old girl I appeared to be when I fled during the confrontation with the Volturi all those years ago. I felt dread as I realized that I was going to have to explain something that I didn't want to explain. Why I ran away and left my family thinking that I was dead.

He tore his gaze away from me and unto the woman who had been treating me badly this entire time. "Melanie, I ask you again, what is going on here?"

"Nothing sir," maybe it was just me but I think she was intimidated by my grandfather.

"That's not what it looks like here," grandpa said calmly.

"Dr. my girlfriend here is in labor and this woman refuses to check us in,"

"Because her insurance isn't any good. So Carlisle I thought-"

"You thought that meant you could turn away a patient in need! Melanie you know better then to ever turn away a patient that needs medical assistance!" my grandfather was trying to remain calm.

"But they can't pay-"

Grandpa waived her away saying "I don't have time for this right now but I will deal with this later. If there is one thing I will not tolerate is you turning away people in need because of finances," he growled.

She stayed silent.

"You come with me," I was caught off guard by my grandfather's cold hands as he held me up. "What is your name?"

"Renesmee," I managed to say.

"Of course," my grandpa smiled briefly.

"Can Brian come? He's the father,"

"The father is always welcome in the delivery room," Carlisle smiled at him kindly.

I was very thankful that Brian could be there with me. He would be a buffer between me and all of the questions that were certainly on my grandfather's mine. Why did I disappear all those years ago? Why has my biology taken a much more human nature over the past 18 years? Why I'm now homeless? These were all questions that I was in no way prepared to answer. Mainly because I never thought I would have to answer to them.

Another painful contraction hit me as my grandfather helped me get into the bed. "How long have you been in labor?"

"Since this morning, I think. That is when my water broke," I grunted through the pain.

"And how far along are you in your pregnancy?" he asked me.

"Nine months. I think. The website said my due date was tomorrow so that seems fairly accurate,"

"Wait," my grandfather said in a very serious tone. "Do you mean to tell me that you have gone this entire pregnancy without ever seeing a doctor?,"

I shook my head. "I wasn't able to get medical insurance until recently. So no. I never saw a doctor,"

"I helped her walk here today when her water broke," Brian explained.

"You walked here?"

"No choice," I grunted. "There is no reliable source of transportation from the encampment to the hospital,"

"Okay Nessie, I want you to listen to me. When I tell you to push I want you to push okay?"

I nodded. "Okay,"

I didn't know how much time had passed when my grandpa said "I can already see the head. One more push should do it,"

I pushed as hard as I could. Then I heard the sound of a baby crying. My baby,"

"Congratulations you two. It's a boy,"

I couldn't believe it. I was a mother. I glanced over at Brian who seemed frozen in shock.

"Can I see him?"

"In a few minutes. I just need to check him over and make sure he is healthy,"

A minute or two later Brian left saying that he had to go use the restroom. My grandpa returned before Brian came back. I smiled when he handed me my son. My sweet beautiful baby boy. "You have a very healthy baby boy Renesmee Carlie Cullen,"

My heart stopped beating once again. I actually felt nauseous. "You remember me. I knew it," I whispered.

"It's hard not to recognize my only grandchild no matter how much she has grown in the last 18 years I spent thinking that she was dead,"