Renesmee [JACOB BLACK]

5. Birthday

Renesmee Cullen

On the 11th of September, unlike every other year, I woke up early. Very early, if I may say.

I jumped from my own bed and instead of watching the sunrise as other people would do in the morning, I bathed myself and finished my morning routine as fast as possible, not even letting myself to fall asleep in my own bathtub (believe me, that had happened to me before and it was no fun).

By the time I had finished, the sun was already showering my bedroom.

Unlike most of my birthdays, I didn't have a prepared outfit for the day. And I was glad for it. I had already planned a little more hipsterish, yet cute and simple outfit for the family lunch. After all, the Denali's were coming as well.

Even Jake was coming. My parents seemed to approve of him. And not only because of mom's "friendship" with him.

"His thoughts are pure," my dad had said.

So that was the reason why he had been accepted by my family. What a surprise.

After quickly changing into a casual dress and brown shoes, I put a flower crown in my hair and headed to the kitchen. I smirked when I saw that my parents weren't there and began making breakfast for myself. French toast was it.

That was strange. My parents would have been already in the living area, wishing me a happy birthday.

I shrugged and washed the dishes. Just because I was a birthday girl, it didn't mean I was excused from my daily chores.

Just as I had finished doing my chores, my parents came from nowhere, shouting:

"Surprise!"

I boggled. Unlike most people, I started laughing hysterically at the fact that my own vampire parents had scared me to death.

My mom was the first to hug me after I calmed down.

"My baby's all grown up!", she sounded like she was about to cry if she could. Apparently, vampires were unable to produce tears. But not hybrids. We could.

My dad, who usually would stand straight with a serious facial expression, gave me a hug too and I sensed that he seemed unhappy that I was old enough. Who knew he could be a softie? I remember, when I had been younger, I would think he was reborn Hitler. That was when I hadn't known that my dad had been born in 1901. Silly little me!

"Come on! Everybody is waiting!", mom was rushing me. What for? I didn't understand. The lunch was starting at 11:30 sharp. Looking at the clock, I saw it was far too early, but I dragged along with my parents.

Before stopping at the main house, they took me to their meadow, like on every birthday of mine. Unlike our meadow with Jacob, this meadow of theirs was full of colourful flowers and was radiating serenity.

Alas, it wasn't like our meadow with Jacob. We had memories there, we had met for the first time there. This beautiful little piece of heaven might have been nothing compared to my parents'  meadow, but for me and my wolf, it meant the whole world.

We went to the Hoak house after that. When we entered the mansion, we were greeted with the smell of cinnamon patties. Perhaps grandma Esme had prepared them for me and Jacob.

"Ah! Renesmee!", she excitedly said and gave me a hug. "Happy birthday!"

Not so long after, the whole family, including all our guests and Jacob joined in a group hug. One of the things I loved about my family was the group hugs. They made me feel safe.

"Renesmee? We have good news for you," announced grandpa.

I pricked my ears. The great news was that the school I was going to attend, was opening on the next day. The reason for this had been a fire in the summer holiday. They had needed some time to renovate it.

"Aren't you excited for your first school day tomorrow?", mom asked.

I shrugged. It was not like I was not excited, it was just the fact that I didn't know what to expect. Sure, I had watched movies and had read books but it was not the same. It never was. And I truly hoped I would fit in.

"Presents time!" , aunt Alice exclaimed. For a millisecond, I was surrounded by bunch of boxes and paper bags.

Jacob handed me a huge box with a ribbon. Grinning from ear to ear, I opened it, excited, only to find ... a smaller box?

What?!

After opening the second box, I took out of it a soft grass green pullover with a wolf on it. I gasped from happiness. He knew how much I loved pullovers and wolves.

I quickly put it on, making my aunt Alice scold me for getting my clothes wrinkled. Like I cared. She wasn't going to ruin my happiness.

What made me even happier was when he said that he had made the pullover himself. It meant the world to me. A handmade gift was the thing that would touch my heart. I didn't need diamonds or pearls to feel loved. Even a simple card, as long it was made with love, would make me happy.

"There's one more surprise in the box," Jake added, without removing his grin from his face.

I looked around the box to see a golden circle-shaped locket. A gasp escaped from my mouth. I took a careful look at it. On the back of the locket was written "My Little Ness" . Who was Ness?

"Uhh, Jake? Are you sure this locket is for me?"

He nodded, smiling from ear to ear and explained that "Ness" was his new nickname for me.

"Ew! Like the Lock Ness monster!" , my auntie Rosalie didn't forget to add. It seemed like she didn't like it.

What made me laugh was that he stuck his tongue out, like a kindergartener. That made everyone laugh hard as well.

What I loved during this birthday of mine was not only Jacob's gift, but as well how my family accepted him. We, vampires and shapeshifters were united at last. And that was all I wanted.