Dead.
That's what Bella was. She was gone. I sobbed in Jacob's arms at the top of the stairs. I slid to the floor and he followed.
"I knew this was coming, but I still didn't really expect it." I cried.
Jacob cleared his throat. "I know." I felt a few tears drip onto my head.
He held me for what felt like hours, but it was actually only a few minutes. I let go of him and wiped my eyes. After several deep breaths I lifted my head and shuddered.
"Let's go see the baby." I whispered. Jacobs face darkened but he nodded.
We slowly walked down the steps and Jacob lead me into the living room.
We were not met with a demon that was out for blood like Jacob was expecting. Well, she had bitten me, but it had almost stopped bleeding.
Instead we found Rosalie cradling an adorable looking baby girl who was now clean and clothed. The baby was staring at Rose with wide and curious eyes. So far the kid wasn't a monster, but she was certainly different.
"Jacob!" Seth bounded in the door to meet us. "The pack is coming. What do we do?"
Rosalie snapped her head towards us. "If anyone touches her, they are dead." She snarled protectively.
Seth looked in their direction curiously and his eyes met the baby's.
And it happened.
The glazed eyes.
The dopey grin.
The dreamy look.
Seth imprinted.
On my niece.
But her mother was dead.
And her father was useless.
Jacob stared at Seth in shock. "Well, no worries about that."
Seth let out a sigh and smiled. I walked to Rosalie. "She's normal?"
Rosalie nodded. She didn't even look sad about Bella, she was so enamoured with the baby. Seth came up behind me and peeked over my shoulder at her.
"She's perfect." He breathed.
Rosalie frowned at him. "I agree but why do you care little mutt?"
Seth looked at me nervously. "Uhhh, hhmmm."
I sighed, throat still thick. "Seth imprinted on her."
Rosalie snarled again, angrily this time. "She doesn't even have a name! You can't have her!"
I stepped back and so did Seth. "He only wants to protect her-hey, where'd Jacob go?"
"Jake went to tell the pack. They won't hurt her because she is an imprint." Seth explained.
Rosalie settled back onto the couch and Seth and I sat opposite her. "Fine, but you follow our rules, pup."
"Bella's dead." I whispered.
Rosalie nodded. "I know. Edwards still trying but I haven't heard a heartbeat up there. I'm worried for him."
"She needs a name." I added.
Rosalie winced. "Edward won't come down. He says that we can name her whatever."
Seth grimaced. "That not all that he said."
I sighed. "I don't know what we should go with. I know we all disagreed with Bella, but I think we should do something to remember her."
"Like her middle name or something." Seth offered.
"How about Elizabeth Marie?" Rosalie asked.
I frowned. The name didn't quite fit this little baby in Rosalie's arms. "How about Eliza or Lisa? Elizabeth doesn't work. Or we name her that and call her Lisa for short."
Rosalie hummed thoughtfully. "I like Lisa Marie." She turned to Lisa and tickled her tummy.
I stared in wonder. I was actually an auntie. I reached for Lisa and Rosalie transferred her to me.
"Hey Lisa, I'm your auntie." I ran my fingers lightly of her head. She stared at me with those big brown, human eyes of hers.
Jacob came back and Emmett followed him. "The pack is backing off. Leah is furious and Sam want to talk to you Seth. They others are fine."
Emmett came to stand near Rosalie. His hand rested on her shoulder as he stared at the baby in my arms. "May I?"
I nodded and gave her to him. He stared at her in wonder and leaned close to Rosalie.
They looked like the perfect image of a family. This is what Rosalie and Emmett deserved, but it was denied them. But now they had that chance through Lisa.
That night went by in a blur. A couple hours after Lisa was born, Carlisle and the others got back. Edward was still up with Bella's body, trying to revive her.
Carlisle checked Lisa over and ran various tests. Esme and Jasper went upstairs and lead Edward away from Bella's body. Alice then went to clean up all the blood and dress her.
I slept fitfully in Jacobs arms on the couch as everyone bustled around us. We were up and about again before six.
Jacob, Seth, and I ate a breakfast and I started crying again as I thought about calling Dad. It couldn't be put off.
"I don't know what to say." I sniffed.
"You don't have to call him." Carlisle walked in. "I will let him know."
I nodded. "I should go home. I don't want Dad to be alone."
"I'll come with you. Seth, you should check on your Mom too." Jacob sighed.
I wiped my tears away and went to find Lisa. She was in Rosalie's arms as usual.
"Bye bye baby. I'll see you later." I told her.
Jacob drove us slowly to my house, and by the time we got there Carlisle had already called Dad.
Jacob winced. "He's crying."
I got out of the car and dragged myself to the house.
"Dad?" I called. I found him in the living room, tears rolling down his face. That set off my tears again.
I sat down next to him and put an arm around him. "She's gone."
The days that followed were sad and tiring. Edward was a mess, Rosalie told me. I hadn't even seen him since the delivery.
Dad was also a mess and took time off of work. So far we hadn't told him about Lisa because she was still growing really fast. I also got to skip school for a while because of Bella's death. And so I spent my time with dad and then Rosalie and Lisa. Jacob followed me pretty much everywhere which was sweet, but sometimes stressful.
Carlisle arranged for the funeral which took place three days after she died, which, unfortunately was her birthday. Everyone in the community was shocked by the announcement, but Dad asked for it to be a closed funeral. I was fine with that as I didn't want to have to talk to anyone else about Bella. Mom was devastated, but I couldn't even speak to her. She came alone again as Phil was supposedly busy. The rest of the family from Dads side couldn't make it on such short notice.
The casket was open which was awful. Since she had literally lost all her blood, her body was as pale as paper. Alice had dressed her to cover all the bite marks that Edward had left on her body in an attempt to change her.
She looked dead. Just like a vampire, but I knew she wasn't. She was actually dead.
As the casket lowered into the ground and we stood around sombrely, I reflected back on my interactions with Bella. We had a rough time, but in the end, I was satisfied. I had done everything I could.
Edward refused to speak to anyone and after the funeral, he stood staring at the grave. Later, Emmett told me that he and Jasper had to drag Edward away later that night.
We fell back into our normal routine because there was nothing else to do. Dad went back to work, and I went back to school. I still cried occasionally. Marly came back and she was one thing that kept me grounded.
The pack went back to normal, except for Seth, who was usually over at the Cullens in his free time.
I spent a lot of time with Lisa, and every day she was bigger. She had a type of vampire ability that when she put her hand on someone's skin, she would put a picture in their head. It was super freaky at first, but eventually I got used to it.
She liked to be held, and she was quickly attached to Rosalie. Edward was basically in depression at this point and didn't do anything except sit and stare unless someone made him do something. Jasper couldn't stand being around him and so he and Alice began to be seen less frequently.
Two weeks after Lisa was born, she was able to sit up on her own and think full words to us through her hands.
Two months later she was walking and talking and looked like a toddler. Her hair was a beautiful wavy bronze color and her eyes were the same as Bella's. Carlisle was concerned that she was going to continue to grow super fast and then die in a few years. But one thing that gave us hope was that her growth rate was slowly reducing. Each week she grew a little less fast.
She mostly liked to drink blood, but we were trying to wean her onto foods that she liked to eat. Unfortunately those were few and far between.
Alice and Jasper decided to leave to search for potential information on of other vampire human hybrids. The rest of the Cullens discussed moving to a more remote location where Lisa could grow without outside eyes looking in. We didn't know how long she had to live and we wanted her to be a happy as possible.
Before we knew it, it was Christmas and it was a sad affair. Dad and Sue were officially dating and so Christmas looked like Dad, Sue, Seth, Leah, and myself. Jacob and Billy were over as well, but for the rest of us, it was the first Christmas since loosing someone. Harry had died in the spring, but it was still very hard for all of them. Unfortunately now Dad and I knew what they had gone through.
Even with the somber atmosphere, we still managed to be happy.
Edward disappeared one day, leaving Lisa in the care of Rosalie, not that he had done much with her in the first place. While Rosalie was sad for Edward, she flourished over the chance to be a mother. Lisa had completely captured my heart and I spent a lot of time over there with her, so much so that Jacob even complained about it.
"I never see you anymore." Jacob frowned.
I hesitated. "Yes you do. You were at Emily's when I was there yesterday."
Jacob gabbed my hands. "I mean we haven't hung out in months. Not since before Lisa was born. It's our birthdays next week, can we do something fun? Just the two of us?"
I thought back over the last few months. I had been awfully consumed with Lisa. We had told Dad that Rosalie adopted a child, and that was why I was over there so often. I had been so busy with Lisa that the rest of my friends had been pushed aside. "I'm sorry. Of course we can. I just haven't wanted to miss anything."
Lisa was now the size of a four year old and could hold a steady conversation. She always got excited when Seth showed up and he was always happy to make her laugh.
Seth was the second wolf to imprint on a child, but she was growing much quicker than Claire. His mom was very hesitant about the situation, but she really couldn't do anything about it. Leah was very upset because she thought that her little brother was getting trapped into a life that he shouldn't. But Seth, the already happy and bubbly teen, was even more so when he saw Lisa. He would play with her, take her for rides on his back, encourage her to eat good human food, and just generally be a playmate and brother.
Sam, Paul and Jared began taking about retiring from the pack so that their imprints didn't get to far ahead of them. Until the Cullens moved, they likely wouldn't have much success, but they were thinking about it. Especially Paul, as he was already a couple years younger than Rachel.
Life moved slowly yet fast. I made a point to hang out which Jacob more which made us happier. We turned seventeen and then it had been two full years since Bella had moved to Forks and we had gotten involved in all the supernatural stuff that was going on.
Soon it had been six months since Lisa's birth and Bella's death. I was able to smile and laugh way more easily now. Dad too was getting back to his old self and began making jokes again.
Sadly, the Cullens decided to move. I wasn't actually sad that they would be gone, but I was sad that they were taking Lisa with them. Alice had found out about another hybrid like her, and discovered that she should stop growing eventually and then have a very long life. They were taking her to live in Canada for a while, but Rosalie promised to visit with her.
It was a very tearful goodbye for me and Seth. Seth was staying on the Rez as he was only just fifteen and his mom wouldn't let him move. He was going to run to Canada every week or so just to see Lisa, otherwise he would go crazy.
Edward hadn't been seen in ages, and any softer feelings I had had for him were gone. My hatred of him was back, full force. Not only did he abandon Bella, come back and marry her, he abandoned their child after Bella died. He had completely lost all respect in my eyes.
Once the Cullens moved, things changed. Sam, Paul, Jared, and Embry all began not phasing. They still phased every once in a while but for the most part they were quitting. That meant that Jacob, the rightful heir as Ephraim Blacks grandson, was now the alpha.
I could see a change in Jacob after that, but it was a good one. He was more mature and steady, and I was too. The past two years had been hard and stressful, as well as having some of the best memories of my life to date, but they had changed us and helped us mature.
I was happy with life. There were no big disaster or frightening scenarios. Unfortunately, it seemed to be because Bella was no longer alive. I was sad that she was dead, but sometimes I was glad that she wasn't causing problems anymore.
Life was almost normal again.
I could take that.