A/N - A little shorter than what your used to, I'm sure. But this felt like the right time to cut it since things are about to take a turn mwahaha lol Special thanks to one particular person , Dreamer_44 , thank you so so much for your support! I appreciate you greatly for being with me all these years and for your patience! Thank you for making finishing this book worthwhile!
Chapter 53 – Happier than Ever
*Violette's POV*
The flowers had finally come to an end and Nessie was prompt to let go of my hand before zipping around the large lot. I was so confused. I know for a fact that this house hadn't been here before. The lake where I'd nearly given Jacob a heart attack when he thought I drowned was nearby. As a matter of fact, it didn't take me much to be able to hear the moving water. The house, or what was there of it, was beautiful. I could see a light, almost rustic oak, porch with a swinging seat placed by a wide double door. My eyes had gone straight to it when I saw the pastel yellow and pastel green stuffed puppies sitting on it. I felt my eyebrow twitch, somewhat irked. I heard Edward laugh.
"Renesmee picked those two plushes out, Violet. She thought you'd just love them for the twins." I stared at my brother as he smirked at me. I did my best to grin at my little niece who quickly ran back to me with the toys in hand.
"Aren't they so cute, Aunty! For the babies' nursery!" I smiled at her, but tilted my head in confusion. We hadn't decided on where to set up a nursery, be it mine or his family's house.
"Thank you, sweety! That's very nice of you! We'll have to get to work on a nursery soon to make use of these two toys." I smiled at her, taking the toys in hand.
"That's kind of being taken care of for you." My head quickly snapped up at who'd come out the front door of the home. Seth. I felt myself hold on tighter onto the stuffed toys. I felt tears welling up in my eyes but did my best to suppress them, using Jasper's abilities a little to help. I smiled at him as he grinned at me, jumping down the porch easily despite the jeans and button up that he wore.
"I- I don't understand." I stuttered at, feeling my throat closing up a little and opting to look at the others as they all looked at me happily. "Can someone explain what's going on?" I turned to look at Jacob now. "Is this your new home, Seth?" I asked, bewildered.
"Nope." he said, popping the P in nope and walking towards me. I felt Jacob put his hands on my shoulders, massaging them lightly. Seth was suddenly in front of me, grabbing one of my hands and removing the plush in it. I felt his thumb rubbing the top of my hand as he smiled at me. I saw his eyes go to Jake for just a second, nodding, before going back to stare at me. "This..." he gestured to the house, still not releasing my hand. "Is your new house. Or it will be. Needs some more work on it from all of us. We've all been providing a lot of the labor actually." he grinned "You family's pretty loaded, did you know?" He joked at I heard the others chuckle with me.
"This is going to be our home?" I said, bringing my free hand with the plush up to my face to wipe my tears. I stared at Seth, about to turn to look at the others before he brought me into an embrace.
"Congrats, Vie." I heard him whisper in my ear before kissing my cheek rapidly and moving away. I vaguely heard Jacob shout at him. I was too busy trying to process this whole thing. We had a house. We had a house and a baby, babies, on the way. How were things so perfect right now.
"Aww don't cry Violet! We aren't even done with the surprises!" I heard Emily shout, she sounded like she was sniffling too.
"Yeah, runt! Hold the water works for like 5 more minutes!" I heard Emmett shout next. I laughed, so did the others. I turned to look at them all, so grateful for them and all that they did to make this all so perfect. I went to open my mouth to say thank you, reaching back for Jake to take his hand. I stopped when I realized he wasn't within arm's reach anymore.
"Turn around, babe." I heard him whisper. The other's either grinning or smiling softly at me. I turned and my hand went my mouth as I tried to hold back a sob. Jacob was on one knee, a ring in his hands. "Thought I'd give this another go. The right way, with all our family together to see."
"He needs the moral support in case you break his heart and say no!" I laughed, despite my falling tears at Quil's outburst. I heard the smack that came next and then a sharp yell from the jokester. Jake just grunted, casting him a quick glare before he smiled back at me sheepishly. He took a deep breath.
"Please don't let me butcher this..."I heard him whisper. "Violette Elizabeth Mason Cullen," he paused and I giggled as he slowly enunciated my name. He didn't need to finish, I was already nodding my head like a goofball. "Will you please do me the honor of becoming my wife and the future Mrs Black?" Despite me tears, I grinned at him, trying to pull him to me to kiss me.
"Yes, yes I will." I replied when I pulled back. I could hear the others celebrating and hollering behind us as we went in for another kiss, their joyful hoopla not enough to deter us from joining lips again and again. "I love you so much." I whispered to him as he put the ring on my finger.
"I love so more than anything, baby." Jacob whispered, and I now noticed the tears that collected in his eyes. "You make me so fucking happy, I don't know where I'd be without you." he continued as he brought his forehead down to meet mine.
"Whew! Yay for name changes cause Vie's name is hella long!" I heard Embry shout this time and the others laughed.
"Oh sure, but you aren't going to smack him, Billy?!" shouted an indignant Quil.
"Kid's got a point! She's going to be a Black now." stated Billy proudly. "No offense Doc, we're abducting your girl here." I heard him joke. I tuned out the rest, too enamored by my new fiancé. Me and Jacob took a couple of minutes to whisper sweet nothings to one another, so in love that we forgot about the home and all the others.
"Are you happy, baby?" asked Jacob.
"The happiest I've ever been, Jake." I whispered back to him. He smiled at me, leaning down to kiss my forehead again.
"We'll finally have some privacy." he chuckled softly into my ear. I laughed outright at that.
"At least until the twins are born." I joked. He just shrugged at that.
"The won't know any better, s'okay." he grinned at me and I just laughed.
"Well because I don't want to hear any of that, how about we show you a tour of the house and let you guys see how much is left to do, hm?" Spoke up my brother. "Seth?" he motioned to the boy who again, just smiled at me. Despite how happy I felt, feeling his sadness still hurt me, but he was quick to mask it again and toss some keys at Edward. "If you will," my brother gestured to the front door. Jacob helping me up the steps.
"Aunt Violet, I want to show you the nursery, can I?" I smiled at the little girl as she gripped my leg. I nodded at her, extending my hand over to her as Jacob took my other arm and guided me up the final steps and towards the house.
Our soon to be home.
*Fast Forward a month*
The home had been lovely. They said it was nearly done and would be ready in another month. That had been a month ago. THe house was basically done, but Alice insisted on furnishing the place up and I was not about to get in the way of her latest decorative project. Better the house, than me. I did not miss being my sister's dolly, that was for sure. Thankfully, Renesmee took over for me on that end. I rubbed my belly. My poor babies didn't know yet how their aunty could be, but they would soon.
Carlisle said he didn't think I had much more to wait for them to arrive. Or prepare for that matter. I definitely felt like he was right. I was always tired and sometimes even a little lethargic. I couldn't even see my own feet anymore, bending down was impossible. And any tasks that involved that were a no go. My feet were so swollen, I had to get new footwear. Jacob did not approve my being in sandals given that it had started snowing now. We'd had the occasional blizzard already and the floor was heavily coated with the white blanket of snow. I wanted more than anything to go out and help entertain my curious niece. They'd made both she and I wait for the blizzard to completely calm before even being allowed out.
Speaking of out, I needed to get out. In the past month after my shower, I'd been allowed out maybe twice, it was running me mad being locked away like a China doll. I had overheard Nessie and Bella making plans to go deeper into the mountains where the pines were covered in snow and provided the best coverage for a young vampiress to play. I'd instantly asked to come along in secret. I had seen the hesitance in Bella's face to allow me to go, but it hadn't mattered. There are rarely ever any secrets amongst the supernatural in this house. Jacob had come downstairs from my room in that instance.
"M-maybe that's not the best idea, babe, " I cut him off with a pout.
"Jacob Black, I either go with them alone or you can come with us, but I'm going. The babies and I demand fresh air, nice, crisp, fresh air!" I saw him look to Bella for help and she turned to look at me and then him before shrugging.
"what if it gets to cold? I knew I was being unreasonable, but I was much too exhausted and bored of being in this house at this point.
"I have coats!" I groaned. We were both quiet for a while, just staring at one another, hoping the other would give and relent first, but I could see I would win this.
"You can always carry her, Jake. If it gets too cold, you can always shift." reasoned my sister-in-law. I just grinned at Jacob.
"See! There's a reasonable solution to everything. " I heard Jacob sc off and look away.
"Right, reasonable." he sighed and tussled his hair before nodding to me. "I'll go pack some sandwiches and take a blanket for you. I grabbed his hand and kissed his knuckles, thanking him.
"Ham and cheese only, please!" I shouted to him as he walked into the kitchen. "Tomatoes on yours Ness?" I asked my niece who shyly nodded. "And a few with tomatoes for Nessie, please!" I smiled at her and then to Bella who just chuckled and went upstairs to get her daughter a coat too. Since she'd been born, Nessie had proven to be a lot more different than me as a hybrid. The rate at which she grew fluctuated. She'd aged so quickly it had scared us, but then it slowed and accelerated again. She went from looking to be 5 years old just a month ago to now looking to be about 8 years old. My brothers and sisters had taken to trying to find out more about hybrids. Either she was an interesting case study, or I was. Regardless, we needed more information.
Eventually we had made it to our destination. Jacob had wasted no time in laying out my blanket and our picnic basket under a sturdy pine, pulling out a lumbar pillow and laying it on the blanket, close to the trunk of the tree. I went from helping Nessie make snowballs and helping her distinguish the individual beauty of each snowflake to going to sit on the blanket to get a snack. I tried so hard not to let it show, but I was already getting so tired. I quickly appreciated Jacob's proactive planning and grabbed the lumbar pillow. I continued to watch Nessie jump and play in the snow.
Jacob had wasted no time in shifting into his wolf form and laying by my side, but was quickly coaxed by Nessie into playing with her for a bit. I loved watching them play, all too happy at the preview of what he'd be like with our children. I quickly rubbed at my belly. I grabbed the extra blanket and placed it so it draped over my chest and belly.
Jacob soon came to check up on me, a soft whine leaving his muzzle as he pressed his cold nose against my cheek. I just laughed and kissed it and giving his scruff a quick scratch before moving to his ears. He released a pleasant purr before nuzzling my neck. I encouraged him to go back and play with the supernatural little girl when she called him over and let him know I was content in watching them all. I saw Bella toss a snowball at her daughter and she giggled, taking cover behind Jacob.
She stopped to stare at the snowflakes that got caught in his fur before she looked up to the sky. Our heightened sense of sight allowed us to see the shapes of the snowflakes with the naked eye. I figured one had caught her eye. I saw her jump up to catch one, accidently crushing the flake before she came down. I saw Jacob slowly make his way to Bella and they looked at the little girl continue to catch a perfect snowflake. I smiled from my place when I saw the soft smile on her face. She'd successfully caught one, running to show her mother.
"It's beautiful, why don't you go get another one." The little girl nodded happily and went to continue her fun. "Edward thinks that we'll find answers in Brazil." she caught up my lover on the latest lead top more possible hybrid news. "There are tribes there that might know something." she continued, never looking away from her lovely daughter. Jacob had been intently listening to our dear friend before turning to look at me at that. I could already tell what he was thinking. That information might even apply to our own children and was vital for us as well. I smiled to him, my hands under the blanket as I cradled my belly.
I quickly sensed a shift in the atmosphere, everyone suddenly going on edge at Renesmee's change in demeanor. She'd clearly spotted something. I tightened my coat and did my best to try to get up, but the weight of my belly made it difficult. I saw Bella start to walk closer to her daughter who was still in the air, midjump, before I heard Jacob growl lowly. It was hard to see from my position under the tree, as the lower branches obscured my view of whatever they saw.
"Who was that?" I could see Nessie now, holding onto her mother's pant leg. I huffed and did my best to lift myself with help of the tree trunk.
"I think that's our cousin from Denali." I heard the confusion in Bella's voice. I too was suddenly very confused, albeit a little nervous. I did my best to use Edward's or Jasper's ability to gauge the situation, but found myself getting dizzy when I tried. I'd clearly tired myself out more than I'd been aware. I saw Bella move Nessie closer to Jacob who let out another growl, this one more menacing.
"Uncle Jacob?" Nessie whimpered, burring herself closer to my mate. Her fear only causing him to growl more as he felt the need to protect her, I'm sure.
"Irina!" Bella called out. I made sure my heavy coat was on well as I went to carefully move towards them, finding it a bit difficult with how heavy the snow was as I stepped forward, non-too graceful. I looked down to pull my feet up off the snow and continue to go towards the trio when I saw Bella flash off.
"What the hell!" I shouted, Jacob soon nudged Renesmee towards me, where I quickly opened my arms to crush her to my side. She whimpered, scared for her mom. "It's okay, baby. Irina is a cousin of ours." I smiled to her, trying to reassure her, not that it worked as she refused to move her face away from my side. I looked at Jacob who didn't stare at me, just looked towards the direction Bella went. I felt Nessie grab my hand and show me what she saw. Irena had looked at Nessie in horror before she looked at the trio with anger and betrayal. I gulped, suddenly nervous. I felt my babies flutter inside of me at the shift in emotions and my hand flew to my belly.
"They're fine. It's okay, I'm okay. We're okay." I reassured Jacob who whined at me. "Why don't you go to Bella just to be," he gave me a warning growl. There was no way he was leaving me alone, me or Nessie. "Okay, we'll just wait for your momma to get back. Why don't you help me pack things up here in the meantime, sweetie. I'm sure she won't be long and we can go back home" I told her, trying to distract her. She was quick to place everything back in the basket. I smiled at her and thanked her as she handed the basket to me. Jacob remained on Edge. I didn't blame him. Suddenly, I was both regretting and grateful that I came and dragged Jacob along with me.
"Mommy!" I felt Renesmee release my hand and barrel into her mother.
"Bella? Where's Irina?" I asked her. Judging by the grim look on her face, things were not good.
"She just... dove into the water.... she ran off and wouldn't stop." I pursed my lips together at that.
"Let's go on home and call the others. We may need to make a call to Alaska and ask Tanya what Irina was doing here." She hesitantly nodded, picking up Renesmee. She stopped, stared at her daughter and then to Jacob. She must have known, there was no way Jake was shifting into his human form after what just happened. He was too onguard.
"Sweety, why don't you go with your Uncle Jake and hold the basket, so I can take your Aunty Vie, okay?" the little girl shyly looked at Jacob, who nodded, crouching down to make it easier for Bella to place her on his back. He waited and diligently watched as Bella carried me in her arms. Normally, she or I would have cracked a joke at Jacob's expense at this, but after what had occurred, none of us were in a playful mood. My only fear was that our happy bubble was doomed to burst. I hoped I was wrong, for my babies' sake.