Chapter 3: A Familiar Face

Nessie

I had to admit that Thanksgiving was one of the most memorable Thanksgivings on record for me. My dad did the best that he could to make it extra special for Lacey and I. My mom wasn't there anymore and we could feel her absence in the air. But it was as sad as I had expected it to be. Not when my dad engaged us both in silly games. Then after dinner we watched a few sappy Christmas movies until we all fell asleep on the couch.

The next morning I took Lacey with me to one of the local malls for some Black Friday shopping. My daughter would run off to a store and I would panic whenever I lost sight of her. Luckily she never went far and I would catch up to her pretty quickly. Who knew that being responsible for such a tiny human could be so worrisome. Or maybe I was just overly protective because of my past. The thought of some strange man kidnapping my daughter and hurting her, or worse, terrified me in ways that I didn't even think were possible.

I took a deep breath. Maybe it was just my own experience that has given me post traumatic stress disorder. It's why I flinched every time I saw a strange man approaching me. Henry sensed my distress and rubbed against my leg. I scratched behind his ears. My fears were soothed a little.

Still though, it was a relief when we finally left the mall for the day. My feet ached from all of the walking that I had done that day. It was nice to finally load all of the day's spoils into the trunk. "Mommy can we go to McDonald's for dinner?"

"Sure baby," Lord knows that I didn't feel like cooking when we got home. My father couldn't cook to save his own life and I had requested that I be assigned kitchen duty while I was living with him. But I most definitely was way too exhausted to cook today. Before heading out I called my dad and asked him what he wanted.

Lacey fell asleep less than five minutes after we had been driving. I turned down the radio so as not to wake her. All I could hear was the rain as it hit my car and pelted my windows. I had been pleasantly surprised the other day when we got home the other day and found this car in the driveway. My dad had purchased it for me as a homecoming present. I was glad. At least now I didn't have to worry about transportation. I hadn't set any money aside for a car. Between the cost of caring for my daughter, my cancer treatments, monthly bills I had no money left at the end of the month to save. I knew that if it weren't for the $5,000 I got monthly from Edward I would have to choose between my cancer treatments and buying food.

Edward. I had nothing but fond memories of that guy who used to visit me several times a year. The first time we met was when he saved my life when I was seven years old. I had slipped and fallen into the deep end of a pool. I didn't know how to swim and I was by myself when it happened. At least that is what I had thought. Until a stranger was suddenly pulling me out of the pool and saving my life. For a second I thought I had died. I remembered thinking that he was an angel when I first saw him because he was so beautiful. His skin sparkled in the sunlight. I remember how scared he was when he pulled me out of the pool. After that we became very close to one another despite our difference in age. But soon he had to leave. He had a family to get back to.

I was sad to see Edward go. However, that would not be the last time I saw him. He would come back and visit me every few months to check on me and see how I was doing. Quite frankly I think he was extremely worried that I was going to die from my cancer which was ravaging my body back then. On one of his visits he told me that he had opened up a bank account for me because he wanted to give me money. "Sort of like an allowance," is what he said. Only this allowance was $5,000 a month. I never told my parents about this money that I was getting.

One day though, Edward's visits stopped altogether. I was twelve years old the last time that he visited me. Then I never saw him again. The money never stopped coming in from him though. The McDonald's drive thru line was surprisingly full when I arrived. I glanced back at Lacey and saw that she was still asleep in her booster seat.

Dinner was a quiet affair. Even Lacey was still too sleepy and tired to talk. That's why after we were finished eating I took her straight to bed. Then I went to sleep shortly after her.

The feeling of ice cold fingers rubbing my back aroused me. I opened my eyes slightly and saw that it was still pitch black. I closed them again and tried to go back to sleep.

"Nessie. Please wake up,"

My eyes shot wide open this time. That voice. It sounded so familiar. No. It couldn't be. My lamp came on and I had to shut my eyes due to the brightness. I opened them again once I was sure that I could tolerate the light. Alas, it was him. It was Edward. He looked exactly the same as he did all those years ago. I had to pinch myself to make sure that I was not dreaming. His lips formed that half crooked smile that used to mesmerize me all those years ago. Everything about him was the same. Even his golden eye color. The boy looked like he hadn't aged a day in the last several years. "I can assure you that you are not dreaming Nessie,"

"You're really here," I cried. He grabbed me into a tight hug. For the first time since I had been raped I felt safe and truly safe around a man other than my dad. "What are you doing here? Where have you been all these years?"

"I'm sorry. But I had to stop visiting you. Not because I wanted to but because I had to," he said cryptically. He was always so cryptic. "When Esme told me that she had seen you I had to come and see if it was true,"

"You know Esme?"

"She's my adoptive mother,"

"So your family knows about me?"

"No," he said suddenly very urgently. "And that's one of the reasons why I came to see you tonight. When you meet my family I need you to do me a huge favor. I need you to act like you don't know me. I need you to act like we have never met before. Do you think you can do that for me?"

"Why?" I asked.

"Renesmee, it's important,"

"I don't understand. You never told them about you visiting me? They really don't know about me? What did they think you were doing when you'd visit me?"

"I had to lie to them. But that's not important right now. What's important is that you keep this between us. Okay? Look I'll even double the money that I have been transferring into your bank account,"

Whatever qualms I had about complying with his request were gone now. "Deal. I won't say anything. I'm not the best actress in the world but I'll give it my best shot since this is so important to you,"

"Thank you," he looked relieved. "A lot has changed since we last saw each other, hasn't it?" he said as he looked over at Henry who was still fast asleep in my bed. I realized that I'd forgotten take off his service dog vest.

"Yeah, it certainly has. My cancer is back and the doctors are certain that it will kill me this time," An emotion that I could not quite identify flashed across his face. "I'm sorry I shouldn't have sprung that on you quite like that,"

Edward shook his head. "It's okay. I always worried that might happen to you. But if you don't mind my asking. Why do you have a service dog now? I'm sorry for being intrusive it's just that-"

"It's okay. I don't mind. It's for my post traumatic stress disorder. When I was fourteen years old I was gang raped by a group of my peers. I'm still suffering the mental after effects from that. Not only because of what happened but because my daughter was conceived as a result. Yeah, I have a daughter now. Her name is Lacey. You'll-" the words died in my mouth when I saw how angry Edward was. His eyes had turned black and he looked like he was ready to kill someone. Then he left without saying another word.