“Do you, Renesmee Carlie Cullen, take this man, Jacob William Black, to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, all the days of your lives?”
“I do.”
“And do you, Jacob William Black, take this woman, Renesmee Carlie Cullen, to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, all the days of your lives?”
“You know I do.”
I turned my gaze from my daughter and onto my husband, who sat as still as a statue as our dear friend and his onetime competition slipped a golden wedding band onto Renesmee's outstretched hand. I lowered my shield, and began thinking of our own wedding, just seven years earlier- to the day. Edward's eyes widened and his gaze met mine, and in his eyes I saw a glow that, in our old human forms, would've certainly led to tears. He squeezed my hand tightly, and before I raised the shield that made me the same old Bella I had always been, I thought to myself “I adore you, Edward Cullen. Happy anniversary.”
“ I now pronounce you man and wife,” Billy intoned. “You may kiss the bride, son.”
Jacob stood a foot taller than Renesmee, who had long since passed my height, taking once again after her father. At six feet tall, her body was everything that Rosalie would have ever wanted from her own, with a thick mane of Edward's bronzed curls swallowing her like a Botticelli painting. In her face I could finally see myself- those same warm brown eyes with their heavy fringe of lashes, and the full lips with the top lip that seemed just slightly fuller than the bottom. Her skin was rosy, and as Jacob lowered his lips onto hers she began to blush wildly. My own memories came flooding back and suddenly I was back in her place- my pulse thudding wildly and my face on fire with anticipation for what the immediate future would hold. Sometimes I missed those human sensations, but as I became aware once again of Edward's sparkling energy, I knew I had made the right choice.
After the ceremony I looked around at the motley crew of guests. Siobhan and Liam caught my eye immediately, and I inclined my head in recognition. Tia and Benjamin, Kebi, Kate and Garrett... I was astonished at how many of our witnesses- those who had stood unafraid under the council of the Volturi years ago- were once again here by our sides. Across the aisle stood Seth and Leah... my new stepsiblings, if those relationships still counted after you were immortal.
Leah cradled her own daughter firmly in her arms. Little Marie, who had the dubious distinction of being named in my honor, had brought such joy to Leah and her new husband, Mike Newton, that she seemed to be a new woman. Jacob had been sad to lose his beta, but when imprinting finally found Leah, there was little he could do. I smiled at her briefly as my glance travelled even further across the room. Behind me sat Charlie and Sue, and on the same row Renee alone, who had made a surprise visit to my humble cottage only a year before, thereby enrolling herself in our secret society. She had lied to Phil, for the second time in her entire life, telling him that she was simply coming for a visit in order to prevent our secret from spreading any further.
Beyond a few of the Quileute attendees and my parents, there wasn't a soul in the room who wasn't in some way part of our world of fairy tales and secrets. I laughed to myself as I realized how anyone beyond our world might view the wedding photos showing an 18-year-old mother and a 17-year-old father sending their six-going-on-18 year old daughter into the arms of a nearly perpetually 16-year-old giant. Never mind that Edward was old enough to be my grandfather, and that Jacob had surpassed Renesmee in physical age years ago.
Charlie, who had long since passed the “need to know” phase in our relationship, seemed completely at ease, while Renee- still fresh to the Cullen way of life- seemed to struggle. It didn't take a look to feel how out-of-place she was amongst our friends and family. I slipped my arm around her shoulders and hugged her to my side.
“Bella... you're so cold! I'd forgotten how cold you were,” he responded, shivering at my touch. I led her quickly from the room, knowing full well that Edward and Renesmee both would know exactly what I was doing once they picked up on her frequency.
“Do you want to take a quick walk, mom? Maybe get some of this weird stuff off of your mind?” I offered. I felt her consent before she could even speak, and I directed her down the path from the Cullen's house to my home in the woods. Renee sighed so heavily that the air around her pulsed with the exhalation.
“I just can't wrap my head around it, Bells. You. Edward. Renesmee...” she paused there. “Renesmee...” I patted the seat beside me on one of Esme's many garden benches. It dawned on me that in all the years I had known the Cullens, I had never sat here. Renee rubbed her forehead vigorously.
“I wish you had told me sooner, rather than letting this whole thing play out as though it were just a giant scheduling difficulty. I don't know why it would've mattered... I adore Esme and Carlisle; little Alice is such a doll. Edward is a wonderful man... why would it have hurt you to tell me sooner?” She began to cry. “I missed Renesmee's entire life in just the span of a few years.”
“Mom,” I tried to be delicate. “It just wasn't that easy. We have rules here, you know. We live in secret, and we depend on that secrecy for our safety. I couldn't just call you up and tell you who I had become... what I had become. And Renesmee is a large part of that, too.” I shuddered when the memory came flooding back... all those witnesses, Caius' angry face, Jane's frustrated howls. Then I was surprised when Aro came to mind, not as the sickeningly polite judge, but as a cartoon rendering of the magician Merlin. I laughed in spite of myself, but caught myself as I suddenly remembered my company.
“But Charlie...” she began.
“I didn't tell Charlie anything until a year or so ago- the same as you. Jacob told Charlie what had happened, and he didn't even want to acknowledge what we were until the same time you discovered it yourself. At first he didn't even realize that Renesmee was my own flesh and blood, so don't get mad at him! If left to our own devices, you would have already mourned my death and Renesmee would be nothing more than a passing dream.” Renee shuddered.
“When you put it like that...” As if on cue, Nessie's thrumming heartbeat announced her arrival in my periphery.
“Well, Mom, don't take my word for it. Nessie can just as easily catch you up on the last six years herself.” I was taking a big gamble here, hoping that my mother would be satisfied with the images Nessie would give her. She settled silently between us, a giant compared to both of us, and looked me squarely in the eyes. I nodded and took her hand as she reached out and caressed her grandmother's brow.
The images that filled our heads were so vivid- as Nessie's visions had always been- and I found myself transfixed by the march of time as she flipped through her memories. First word, first step, the power of Jacob in her mind and life, the extraordinary means through which this entire strange family had pulled together and saved her... her visions went beyond the anecdotes I would've been inclined to share, and I hoped they satisfied Renee's longing for a piece of our past. Nessie lowered her arm and stroked the locket that still hung around her neck. I couldn't resist the impulse to hug her fiercely.
“Do you see, grandmother?” Nessie's voice pealed like a glockenspiel. Renee looked at us both in awe.
“Siobhan, Liam? MacKenna? Garrett? Who else did I see in the house... Maggie, Kate... oh yes, Benjamin.” Nessie smiled and I realized that I had missed a very important part of their transaction. Renee finally got it. Now she knew how the pieces of our strange little puzzle fit together, and she seemed to approve. She smiled and stroked Renesmee's wild hair, being careful not to dislodge the very same combs she had once slipped into my own hair. “Thank you, darling,” she murmured, “but don't you have a soulmate to go dance with?”
We walked back to the house slowly, following in Nessie's fragrant wake.
“She showed you more than I would've,” I admitted. Renee shrugged.
“She showed me what mattered- that my daughter married the man that was made for her, and that they brought together a family that loved each other in kind, making them impossible to break apart. That's what I needed to see, and that's what she showed me.” Her words were profound, and I turned them over as we walked back up the path, careful not to tear the royal blue shantung silk suit that Alice had tossed to me this morning.
“There you are, darling,” Edward called from the front porch. I knew he had never missed me, but his words gave me the excuse I needed to leave Renee to her new memories and the chance to make current ones. Seth Clearwater offered her his hand even as Edward pulled me dramatically into his. I smiled and kissed him as chastely as I could manage.
“Happy anniversary, you sexy incubus,” I whispered, just low enough that he could hear me. He smiled the same crooked smile that always caught my heart.
“Same to you, my delicious succubus.” We laughed at the way we referred to one another- it had been a joke of ours for some time. Edward spun me out onto the dance floor, nearly slamming me into the wall of Jacob's back. He turned and smiled.
“Watch out... MOM!” He laughed aloud, only to be cut short with a piercing glance from Nessie. That's my girl, I thought.
Edward pulled me close, and I could tell from the look in his eyes that his thoughts were not those appropriate to be shared in a room full of men and women with powers like our own. I felt the elastic stretch beyond me as I encircled us in my shield and let his thoughts and my own mingle shamelessly.
