Chapter Text
It started with something so mundane. They’re in a city this time around. It reminds Bella of Seattle. With how many are in the family, a crowded place was their best option. It’s the middle of winter and the city is covered in snow with dropping temperatures. Bella is at the home she shares with her husband and daughter. To everyone in their building they are posing as twenty-somethings with steady work from home jobs, with Bella and Renesmee being cousins. Jacob lives in the same building but not on their floor. After Renesmee rejected anything other than a familial relationship with him, everyone agreed it would be best for Jacob to have his own space but remain close. Bella would be lying if she said she hadn’t been more than a little relieved when this happened. She knows Edward had to restrain himself from clapping at the news.
She’s currently waiting for Edward and Renesmee to return from shopping. Christmas is next week. Renesmee had waited until she knew who would be coming to pick out gifts- even though Bella and Edward told her the whole family was going to be there. With them being in a large city there was no need to stay in one household. Carlisle and Esme had their own house in the suburbs everyone still gathered at. Not a week went by where the three of them weren’t there at least twice a week. Rosalie and Emmett had set up across town next to the local university. Rosalie was going for her fourth doctorate. Alice and Jasper were in the art district a few streets away from them. Things were going well for everyone.
“Mama! We’re back!” Renesmee came breezing through the front door. Bella was sitting at her desk that faced a wall of windows. She didn’t turn but held out her hand for Renesmee to grab. Renesmee no longer depended on holding others' faces to share her thoughts. Now at 50 years old, she just needed the lightest of touches.
“How was shopping?” Bella asks. Renesmee steps toward her and holds her hand. Bella is immediately met with images of snowflakes and wrapping paper. She sees each present carefully picked out and everyone has their own wrapping paper. Bella returns her smile. “You said you weren’t going overboard this year, Ness.”
Renesmee shrugs in an exact imitation of her mother. “I saved extra last month to make sure I could get everyone what I wanted.” Renesmee does not let go of her hand and Bella turns in her chair to fully face her. She is taken aback slightly at her daughter’s face. Renesmee’s cheeks are bright red, and so is her nose. Bella stands up and cups Renesmee’s face in her hands.
“Are you cold?” Renesmee usually runs hot. She usually feels like a furnace whenever Bella touches her. Only Jacob can compare. But right now Renesmee’s face does not feel as warm as it usually does. Bella does remember being human still. She knows humans get cold and their limbs lose body heat so their torso can stay warm. The second the thought occurs she drops her hands. Renesmee’s skin is somehow redder from them.
Renesmee shrugs again. “A little. Do I look cold?” She has that furrow between her brows that makes her look just like Edward. Renesmee brings her hands to her face and rubs her cheeks. “I made sure to wear my winter coat and scarf before we left. It’s more than enough to keep me warm.” As she rubs, her face does lose some redness and seems to return to a normal color.
Bella nods. “Yeah. It must be below freezing out there,” She waves her arm toward the window. “If we go out tomorrow maybe it’s a good idea to wear a hat too.”
Renesmee rolls her eyes. “Mama it’s snowing outside. Of course, it’s below freezing.” She makes another face. “I don’t want to wear a hat. They make my hair all frizzy.”
Bella makes the same face at her. “Frizzy hair or does Alice need to take you winter clothes shopping again?” Renesmee’s eyes widened. Though she was used to her aunt’s fashion antics, Renesmee did not enjoy being the center of it. Bella knows she’s won when Renesmee scowls and stomps off towards her bedroom. Even though she is 50 human years old, Bella can’t help but think this is Renesmee’s teen years. She has an attitude, is defiant, and will show everyone exactly what is on her mind.
Bella shrugs off the slight worry she feels. It’s winter, snowing, and Renesmee is half human. Even Jacob was bundled up when he went out. “Everything okay, love?” She looks up as Edward comes to stand next to her. His hair was more mussed than usual. It was probably windy outside as well.
“Yeah. Just thinking of the weather.”
“The weather?” He smirks. “It’s the holiday season and you’re thinking about the weather.” Bella elbows him as he continues to tease her. “I see she didn’t show you what she got you.”
“I said no presents this year!”
Nothing else comes up for a few more years. Renesmee adds a layer on very cold days and the problem is solved. They don’t talk about it again.
Renesmee stayed up too late with human friends she’s made and is now the most tired her parents have seen her in a very long time. Probably ever. And if Bella didn’t know better- or could smell better- she’d say Renesmee was hungover. She had been unusually quiet during her morning routines. Bella had offered to make her something to eat, hoping it would help. Renesmee only shook her head. She did perk up a little when Bella asked if she’d like to have her hair braided. She quickly sat on the floor in front of their couch. Bella had zipped through the house and sat behind her daughter, quickly getting to work on brushing through her ringlets.
They sat like that for nearly an hour. Bella did not mind and Renesmee was clearly relaxed. Her eyes had closed a minute in. Bella took her time detangling each section, carefully pulling strands into two french braids. She let her mind wander to the rest of the day. They had no plans for the day other than unpacking. They’ve moved again. This time they’re in familiar territory in Washington. Everyone is back in the same house and in a much smaller city than their previous one. It’s large enough to not raise suspicion but smaller than what they had let themselves get used to.
“Did you finally let Alice take you to get your hair done?” The question comes out without any thought. Renesmee’s confusion seeped in from where Bella touched her shoulder. Bella took that as her answer. “I guess we need to visit somewhere sunny soon. Your hair looked darker while I was braiding it.”
“Rose would have a fit if I let Alice dye my hair.” Renesmee muttered. Bella couldn’t help but chuckle and wrapped her arms around her shoulders.
She offered Renesmee a gentle squeeze. “That is very true. Who knows what will happen if you ever decide to cut it.” No one had dared to cut Renesmee’s hair in her entire 60 years of life. Not that there hadn’t been some tries. Emmett had joked a few times about a buzzcut- Rosalie shut that down immediately. Alice and Esme had wanted to pamper Renesmee one year with a luxury salon trip. Renesmee had been honest and said she felt a little nervous about scissors near her hair. That had brought up the question, would normal scissors even work on her hair?
“What will happen?” The question came vocally and from Renesmee’s thoughts. “Will my hair grow back?” Even with her heartbeat, it was sometimes easy to forget Renesmee wasn’t all vampire. If it had been anyone else in the family, Bella would have easily said of course not. Everyone knew once you altered your body post-turning there was no changing it back. But Renesmee…
“I’ll be honest, I don’t know.” Bella said. “Why don’t you ask Nahuel? It’s been a while since we’ve seen him or Huilen. I’m sure they’d love to have you visit.” They had been communicating through letters and word of mouth for decades at this point. Renesmee had finally worn the other hybrid down and compromise with a phone.
Renesmee nods and squeezes Bella’s arm. “I’ve asked before. Nahuel’s hair stopped growing when he was 7. I could ask about his sister’s-” She stops to yawn. Bella pats her shoulder.
“No reason to rush. Why don’t you take a nap? You seem tired still and everyone else is doing their own thing. I can handle our stuff for now.” Renesmee looks at her gratefully. Bella helps her stand. “Nap then we’ll go hunting.” Renesmee nods and projects images of various animals she wants to find. The smile on her face is contagious.
As she walks away, Bella can’t help but wonder if the lines around her daughter’s eyes have always been there when she smiled.
“I. Am. Fine!”
The scream is heard a mile away from the house. Everyone’s heads snap in that direction. They’re all gathered in the living room watching some sports game Emmett and Jacob had been excited for. Those not interested were either reading or working on their own tasks. Renesmee had zero interest and asked if anyone wanted to go for a hike. Other than hunting, they had hardly spent time in the woods surrounding their home. Rosalie had been more than happy to come with.
It might not have been such a nice trip after all.
Bella was at the window overlooking their huge backyard in seconds. Renesmee was sprinting through the trees with Rosalie hot on her heels. Just from looking at them, it was clear something was wrong. Bella projects what she saw to Edward. He joins her at the window, a confused expression on his face. Bella’s eyes flicker between his face and the two outside. Before she can ask what’s wrong, Edward is out the back door. Bella follows him without a second thought.
“Don’t believe her!” Rosalie yells. She’s still further out than Renesmee but her voice is clear. Edward and Bella stop just on the edge of the forest. Renesmee comes almost to a complete halt a few meters away. There is clearly something wrong. Her hair is more disheveled than it has ever looked. Her pants are torn and her shirt is covered in dirt. There are tears in her eyes, and it makes Bella’s heart ache. Renesmee begrudgingly walks closer to them. Bella can guess she is considering making a break from it. From the way Edward shakes his head just once, she knows she isn’t far off.
“What happened?” She asks, looking up at Edward.
“Renesmee fell.” He sounds confused. At first Bella doesn’t get it. People fall. It happens. When she was human, she was the world’s clumsiest person. In that same thought she remembers Renesmee is not just human. It’s like she was born with perfect balance and grace. She can’t remember if Renesmee has ever fallen before. Not even when she was a toddler for all of 3 days.
“You fell?” Bella asks when Renesmee comes to stand right in front of them. Rosalie stops just short. “Ness, you’ve never fallen.”
Renesmee rolls her eyes. “I know, okay? But I’m fine. We were climbing a rock face and I fell. I wasn’t looking where my hands were grasping and grabbed a loose shelf.”
“No, you’re not.” Rosalie pipes in. “Show them your hands.” Renesmee’s hands are clenched at her sides. She’s giving Rosalie a look of pure betrayal. She opens her fists and shows her palms. “They were worse when she first fell and she’s probably hiding more.”
Renesmee’s hands are scraped and slashed open. Her nails are cracked like she tried to hold onto something and couldn’t. Her palms looked a mess even as they were visibly healing. Bella’s eyes trailed up her wrists and arms. Sure enough, more scrapes. It looked like she lost a battle with a cheese grater. There was little doubt there were likely more underneath Renesmee’s pants and shirt. Bella reaches out and holds Renesmee’s hands in her own. Briefly, she sees images from Renesmee’s perspective. Rosalie above her, her hand grasping one rock, then she’s falling, and her hands and arms scrambling to hold onto anything. Worry settles deep in her gut. Even though she fell, Renesmee should have been able to catch herself. Her reflexes were near perfect like everyone else. Her senses heightened. Falling could happen- sure- but not being able to catch herself was not possible.
Renesmee yanks her hands back. “I’m fine. See?” She splays her fingers for her mother, father, and aunt to see. Her hands are almost perfectly healed. Only the faintest pink lines dot where the deepest scrapes were. “If there’s anything else wrong, I’ll talk to Carlisle.” With that, she dismisses herself. Bella turns to watch her leave. Behind her, Rosalie and Edward whisper to each other.
Jacob has come outside and meets Renesmee halfway to the house. Whatever he says to her doesn’t help as she moves away from him and rushes up to the back door. Bella’s eyes follow her through the big glass window before she disappears inside the house. Jacob shrugs at her before he follows into the house. She sighs and does too. Rosalie and Edward are still talking and only acknowledge her departure with a nod.
As Bella makes her way into the house, a nagging thought enters her mind. She searches the living room for the person who could answer it. As if she already knew, Alice is watching her enter the room. She’s shaking her head before Bella can even ask. Alice did not see this happening.
It happens sometimes. Over the years Alice has practiced. She’s become so tuned into Renesmee she can almost see her future decisions as clearly as everyone else. Sometimes the visions are still blurred and difficult to read. Most of the time they’re like silent movies she can decipher. But not seeing anything at all, especially something like Renesmee getting hurt? It shouldn’t be possible. Once the decision to hike or climb was made, Alice should have seen something.
Bella bites her lip as she decides what to do. This shouldn’t be such a big deal. But it is. She can’t help but think of past events and how Renesmee acted. How many times has she gotten hurt and not said anything? Maybe she wasn’t as indestructible as everyone assumed she was. They still had so little information on hybrids. No one dared experiment with Renesmee and asking Nahuel to be a test subject was out of line. He was kind enough to share what he could about himself and his sisters.
She knows she isn’t getting any answers right now. Bella resolves herself to talk to Carlisle and Edward about it. Maybe after, one of them can talk to Renesmee.