After Dark

65.

Every step I take makes the fear bigger.
But I'm also confident that everything will turn out well.
I go to the living room and see Tom talking to Esme.
"Can I talk to you for a moment?", I ask. He nods and follows me into the kitchen. I don't know why I wanted to come here. He looks at me calmly,
"What's wrong?", he asks.
"I want to talk to you about our relationship", I say, realizing he already knows what's coming.
"You wanna break up", he says, and I nod sadly.
"I'm sorry, but that can't go on, I realize it's not like it used to be", I look down.
"You're right, it's not the same anymore", he agrees.
Surprised that he takes it so calmly, I hug him,
"Can we stay friends?", I ask.
"Sure", he says and seems to smile. Now I start to smile and let go of him. He breathes in relief.
"You don't need to breathe", I say with a grin.
"It's just out of habit", he laughs and hugs me again. I'm relieved now, too.
I didn't expect that at all.

I'm looking for Grayson when I suddenly hear a scream.
It's Renesmee.
Oh no, the contractions started. Quickly I run after the screaming and shortly afterwards I'm standing in front of a crying Renesmee. She can barely stand up.
Bella is also here and asks her daughter to breathe calmly. It seems very difficult for her.
We take her to Carlisle's study, where he's already waiting for us. Carlisle opens the door to the next room. There's a bed on which we lay her carefully.
Now the others come too. Rosalie and Alice come in to help, I go out. I'm not that familiar with that. If I did something wrong, I could hurt her, the baby or both.

I'm standing in the hallway with Carissa, Tom and Serena. There's no sign of Grayson. Where is he?
I look questioningly at Carissa, but she just makes me understand that she doesn't know either. He probably wants to stay away from the baby.

After several hours of painful screams, the child is finally thee. I can't imagine what that must have been for Renesmee.
Slowly some of us, who can really control themselves, are allowed to enter.
Bella and Edward stand smiling next to Renesmee holding her child in her arms.
It yawns, whereupon Renesmee chuckles softly.
"Come over", she says.
Bella makes sure that none of the others take a wrong step. She will especially protect her daughter and grandchild, as she has done for Renesmee in recent years.
"Is it a girl or a boy?", Carissa asks, who can't take her eyes off the newborn. It's just like Renesmee, you just have to love it.
"It's a girl", she says beaming, stroking the baby's little hand.
Edward looks at Carlisle thankfully, he nods with a slight smile and looks at his great-granddaughter.

In the evening I'm standing on the veranda with Bella.
"Well, how's it to be Grandma now?", I ask with a grin.
She starts to laugh,
"Do you want to provoke me now?", she asks.
I shake my head laughing.
"Of course not, I'm glad the baby came today", I say as my expression changes again.
"When are they coming?", she asks.
"I'm not sure yet, the pack already knows that the baby is born, they are connected with her in their minds, since she's a half shapeshifter, and because of her mother she will grow up faster and probably also have the ability to transform into a wolf.
Also the Volturi will know soon, because there's an informant, but unfortunately I can't see who it is and with luck, there are still a few more days", I say and hear her sigh.
I have to think of Grayson again, hopefully he's not the informer.
Well, if it was him, Alice and I would have already seen it.
She says goodbye to me and goes into the house.
I'll stay for a while and then go, too.

Sitting at the piano again, I play a new piece. It's been a while since I did that. The others are downsairs with Renesmee and the baby.
Which name will she give her?
Hopefully something timeless.
I look up for a moment and see someone landing on the balcony. He comes in and sits down next to me.
"The baby's there, isn't it?", he asks, I'm nodding with a smile,
"It's a girl", I say.
"Charlie wants to come over tomorrow, so we have to come up with something new", I say, looking back at the keys.

I try to find the right words, but futile.
We stay like that for a while, until he wants to leave the room.
Do I leave it unsaid or not?
I decide for the second.
"Wait!", I suddenly say. I take his hand and keep him from leaving. He looks at me for a moment.
"Don't go", I won't let him go, pull him even closer to me, until my lips meet his.
He reciprocate the kiss slightly surprised. Again I feel this warm feeling, it feels like it used to.
After I let go of him, he smiles and hugs me.
Minutes pass.
Unfortunately, the beautiful moment is interrupted by a giggling Carissa.
"How long have you been there?", Grayson asks, rubbing his neck in embarrassment.
"Long enough", she says, grinning,
"Come downstairs, Renesmee found a name for her daughter", she says and leaves, we follow her down the stairs.

We all stand around Renesmee, sitting on the couch with her child.
"I've been thinking for a long time about the name I want to give to my baby, because it's a girl, I wanted to take something nice, modern.
Well, she's named -