It was only a little while later that Edward reminded me of my priorities.

　　It took him just one word.

　　"Renesmee..."I sighed. She would be awake soon. It must be nearly seven in the morning. Would she be looking forme? Abruptly, something close to panic had my body freezing up. What would she look like today?

　　Edward felt the total distraction of my stress. "It's all right, love. Get dressed, and we'll be back to thehouse in two seconds."I probably looked like a cartoon, the way I sprung up, then looked back at him—his diamond bodyfaintly glinting in the diffuse light—then away to the west, where Renesmee waited, then back at himagain, then back toward her, my head whipping from side to side a half dozen times in a second. Edwardsmiled, but didn't laugh; he was a strong man.

　　"It's all about balance, love. You're so good at all of this, I don't imagine it will take too long to puteverything in perspective.""And we have all night, right?"He smiled wider. "Do you think I could bear to let you get dressed now if that weren't the case?"That would have to be enough to get me through the daylight hours. I would balance this overwhelming,devastating desire so that I could be a good— It was hard to think the word. Though Renesmee wasvery real and vital in my life, it was still difficult to think of myself as a mother. I supposed anyone wouldfeel the same, though, without nine months to get used to the idea. And with a child that changed by thehour.

　　The thought of Renesmee's speeding life had me stressed-out again in an instant. I didn't even pause atthe ornately carved double doors to catch my breath before finding out what Alice had done. I just burstthrough, intenton wearing the first things I touched. I should have known it wouldn't be that easy.

　　"Which ones are mine?" I hissed. As promised, the room was bigger than our bedroom. It might havebeen bigger than the rest of the house put together, but I'd have to pace it off to be positive. I had a briefmental flash of Alice trying to persuade Esme to ignore classic proportions and allow this monstrosity. Iwondered how Alice had won that one.

　　Everything was wrapped in garment bags, pristine and white, row after row after row.

　　"To the best of my knowledge, everything but this rack here"—he touched a bar that stretched along thehalf-wall to the left of the door—"is yours.""All of this?"He shrugged.

　　"Alice," we said together. He said her name like an explanation; I said it like an expletive.

　　"Fine," I muttered, and I pulled down the zipper on the closest bag. I growled under my breath when Isaw the floorlength silk gown inside—baby pink.

　　Finding something normal to wear could take all day!

　　"Let me help," Edward offered. He sniffed carefully at the air and then followed some scent to the backof the long room. There was a built-in dresser there. He sniffed again, then opened a drawer. With atriumphant grin, he held out a pair of artfully faded blue jeans.

　　I flitted to his side. "How did you do that?""Denim has its own scent just like anything else. Now... stretch cotton?"He followed his nose to a half-rack, unearthing a long-sleeved white t-shirt. He tossed it to me.

　　"Thanks," I said fervently. I inhaled each fabric, memorizing the scent for future searches through thismadhouse. I remembered silk and satin; I would avoid those.

　　It only took him seconds to find his own clothes—if I hadn't seen him undressed, I would have swornthere was nothing more beautiful than Edward in his khakis and pale beige pullover—and then he tookmy hand. We darted through the hidden garden, leaped lightly over the stone wall, and hit the forest at adead sprint. I pulled my hand free so that we could race back. He beat me this time.

　　Renesmee was awake; she was sitting up on the floor with Rose and Emmett hovering over her, playingwith a little pile of twisted silverware. She had a mangled spoon in her right hand. As soon as she spiedme through the glass, she chucked the spoon on the floor—where it left a divot in the wood—andpointed in my direction imperiously. Her audience laughed; Alice, Jasper, Esme, and Carlisle were sittingon the couch, watching her as if she were the most engrossing film.

　　I was through the door before their laughter had barely begun, bounding across the room and scoopingher up from the floor in the same second. We smiled widely at each other.

　　She was different, but not so much. A little longer again, her proportions drifting from babyish tochildlike. Her hair was longer by a quarter inch, the curls bouncing like springs with every movement. I'dlet my imagination run wildon the trip back, and I'd imagined worse than this. Thanks to my overdone fears, these little changeswere almost a relief. Even without Carlisle's measurements, I was sure the changes were slower thanyesterday.

　　Renesmee patted my cheek. I winced. She was hungry again.

　　"How long has she been up?" I asked as Edward disappeared through the kitchen doorway. I was surehe was on his way to get her breakfast, having seen what she'd just thought as clearly as I had. Iwondered if he would ever have noticed her little quirk, if he'd been the only one to know her. To him, itprobably would have seemed like hearing anyone.

　　"Just a few minutes," Rose said. "We would have called you soon. She's been asking for you—demandingmight be a better description. Esme sacrificed her second-best silver service to keep the littlemonster entertained." Rose smiled at Renesmee with so much gloating affection that the criticism wasentirely weightless. "We didn't want to... er, bother you."Rosalie bit her lip and looked away, trying not to laugh. I could feel Emmett's silent laughter behind me,sending vibrations through the foundations of the house.

　　I kept my chin high. "We'll get your room set up right away," I said to Renesmee. "You'll like thecottage. It's magic." I look up at Esme. "Thank you, Esme. So much. It's absolutely perfect."Before Esme could respond, Emmett was laughing again—it wasn't silent this time.

　　"So it's still standing?" he managed to get out between his snickers. "I would've thought you two hadknocked it to rubble by now. What were you doing last night? Discussing the national debt?" He howledwith laughter.

　　I gritted my teeth and reminded myself of the negative consequences when I'd let my temper get awayfrom me yesterday. Of course, Emmett wasn't as breakable as Seth___Thinking of Seth made me wonder. "Where're the wolves today?" I glanced out the window wall, butthere had been no sign of Leah on the way in.

　　"Jacob took off this morning pretty early," Rosalie told me, a little frown creasing her forehead. "Sethfollowed him out.""What was he so upset about?" Edward asked as he came back into the room with Renesmee's cup.

　　There must have been more in Rosalie's memory than I'd seen in her expression.

　　Without breathing, I handed Renesmee off to Rosalie. Super-self-control, maybe, but there was no wayI was going to be able to feed her. Not yet.

　　"I don't know—or care," Rosalie grumbled, but she answered Edward's question more fully. "He waswatching Nessie sleep, his mouth hanging open like the moron he is, and then he just jumped to his feetwithout any kind of trigger—that I noticed, anyway—and stormed out. / was glad to be rid of him. Themore time he spends here, the less chance there is that we'll ever get the smell out.""Rose," Esme chided gently.

　　Rosalie flipped her hair. "I suppose it doesn't matter. We won't be here that much longer.""I still say we should go straight to New Hampshire and get things set up," Emmett said, obviouslycontinuing anearlier conversation. "Bella's already registered at Dartmouth. Doesn't look like it will take her all thatlong to be able to handle school." He turned to look at me with a teasing grin. Tm sure you'll ace yourclasses... apparently there's nothing interesting for you to do at night besides study."Rosalie giggled.

　　Do not lose your temper, do not lose your temper,I chanted to myself. And then I was proud of myselffor keeping my head.

　　So I was pretty surprised that Edward didn't.

　　He growled—an abrupt, shocking rasp of sound—and the blackest fury rolled across his expression likestorm clouds.

　　Before any of us could respond, Alice was on her feet.

　　"What is he doing? What is that dog doing that has erased my schedule for the entire day? I can't seeanything] No!" She shot me a tortured glance. "Look at you! You neec/meto show you how to use yourcloset."For one second I was grateful for whatever Jacob was up to.

　　And then Edward's hands balled up into fists and he snarled, "He talked to Charlie. He thinks Charlie isfollowing after him. Coming here. Today."Alice said a word that sounded very odd in her trilling, ladylike voice, and then she blurred into motion,streaking out the backdoor.

　　"He told Charlie?" I gasped. "But—doesn't he understand? How could he do that?" Charlie couldn'tknow about me! About vampires! That would put him on a hit list that even the Cullens couldn't save himfrom. "No!"Edward spoke through his teeth. "Jacob's on his way in now."It must have started raining farther east. Jacob came through the door shaking his wet hair like a dog,flipping droplets on the carpet and the couch where they made little round gray spots on the white. Histeeth glinted against his dark lips; his eyes were bright and excited. He walked with jerky movements,like he was all hyped-up about destroying my father's life.

　　"Hey, guys," he greeted us, grinning.

　　It was perfectly silent.

　　Leah and Seth slipped in behind him, in their human forms—for now; both of their hands were tremblingwith the tension in the room.

　　"Rose," I said, holding my arms out. Wordlessly, Rosalie handed me Renesmee. I pressed her close tomy motionless heart, holding her like a talisman against rash behavior. I would keep her in my arms until Iwas sure my decision to kill Jacob was based entirely on rational judgment rather than fury.

　　She was very still, watching and listening. How much did she understand?

　　"Charlie'll be here soon," Jacob said to me casually. "Just a heads-up. I assume Alice is getting yousunglasses or something?""You assume way too much," I spit through my teeth. "What. Have. You. Done?"Jacob's smile wavered, but he was still too wound up to answer seriously. "Biondie and Emmett wokeme up this morning going on and on about you all moving cross-country. Like I could let you leave.

　　Charlie was the biggest issue there, right? Well, problem solved.'7"Do you even realize what you've done? The danger you've put him in?"He snorted. "I didn't put him in danger. Except from you. But you've got some kind of supernaturalself-control, right? Not as good as mind reading, if you ask me. Much less exciting."Edward moved then, darting across the room to get in Jacob's face. Though he was half a head shorterthan Jacob, Jacob leaned away from his staggering anger as if Edward towered over him.

　　"That's just a theory, mongrel," he snarled. "You think we should test it out on Charlie? Did youconsider the physical pain you're putting Bella through, even if she can resist? Or the emotional pain if shedoesn't? I suppose what happens to Bella no longer concerns you!" He spit the last word.

　　Renesmee pressed her fingers anxiously to my cheek, anxiety coloring the replay in her head.

　　Edward's words finally cut through Jacob's strangely electric mood. His mouth dropped into a frown.

　　"Bella will be in pain?""Like you've shoved a white-hot branding iron down her throat!"I flinched, remembering the scent of pure human blood.

　　"I didn't know that," Jacob whispered.

　　"Then perhaps you should have asked first," Edward growled back through his teeth.

　　"You would have stopped me.""You should have been stopped—""This isn't about me," I interrupted. I stood very still, keeping my hold on Renesmee and sanity. "This isabout Charlie, Jacob. How could you put him in danger this way? Do you realize it's death or vampire lifefor him now, too?" My voice trembled with the tears my eyes could no longer shed.

　　Jacob was still troubled by Edward's accusations, but mine didn't seem to bother him. "Relax, Bella. Ididn't tell him anything you weren't planning to tell him.""But he's coming here!""Yeah, that's the idea. Wasn't the whole let him make the wrong assumptions' thing your plan? I think Iprovided a very nice red herring, if I do say so myself."My fingers flexed away from Renesmee. I curled them back in securely. "Say it straight, Jacob. I don'thave the patience for this.""I didn't tell him anything about you, Bella. Not really. I told him about me. Well, show is probably abetter verb.""He phased in front of Charlie," Edward hissed.

　　I whispered, "You what?""He's brave. Brave as you are. Didn't pass out or throw up or anything. I gotta say, I was impressed.

　　You should've seen his face when I started taking my clothes off, though. Priceless," Jacob chortled.

　　"You absolute moronl You could have given him a heart attack!""Charlie's fine. He's tough. If you'd give this just a minute, you'll see that I did you a favor here.""You have half of that, Jacob." My voice was flat and steely. "You have thirty seconds to tell me everysingle word before I give Renesmee to Rosalie and rip your miserable head off. Seth won't be able tostop me this time.""Jeez, Bells. You didn't used to be so melodramatic. Is that a vampire thing?""Twenty-six seconds."Jacob rolled his eyes and flopped into the nearest chair. His little pack moved to stand on his flanks, notat all relaxed the way he seemed to be; Leah's eyes were on me, her teeth slightly bared.

　　"So I knocked on Charlie's door this morning and asked him to come for a walk with me. He wasconfused, but when I told him it was about you and that you were back in town, he followed me out tothe woods. I told him you weren't sick anymore, and that things were a little weird, but good. He wasabout to take off to see you, but I told him I had to show him something first. And then I phased." Jacobshrugged.

　　My teeth felt like a vise was pushing them together. "I want every word, you monster.""Well, you said I only had thirty seconds—okay, okay." My expression must have convinced him that Iwasn't in the mood for teasing. "Lemme see... I phased back and got dressed, and then after he startedbreathing again, I said something like, 'Charlie, you don't live in the world you thought you lived in. Thegood news is, nothing has changed—except that now you know. Life'll go on the same way it alwayshas. You can go right back to pretending that you don't believe any of this.'

　　"It took him a minute to get his head together, and then he wanted to know what was really going onwith you, with the whole rare-disease thing. I told him that you had been sick, but you were fine now—itwas just that you'd had to change a little bit in the process of getting better. He wanted to know what Imeant by 'change,' and I told him that you looked a lot more like Esme now than you looked like Renee."Edward hissed while I stared in horror; this was headed in a dangerous direction.

　　"After a few minutes, he asked, real quietly, if you turned into an animal, too. And I said, 'She wishes shewas that cool!'" Jacob chuckled.

　　Rosalie made a noise of disgust.

　　"I started to tell him more about werewolves, but I didn't even get the whole word out—Charlie cut meoff and said he'd 'rather not know the specifics.' Then he asked if you'd known what you were gettingyourself into when you married Edward, and I said, 'Sure, she's known all about this for years, since shefirst came to Forks.' He didn't like that very much. I let him rant till he got it out of his system. After hegot calmed down, he just wanted two things. He wanted to see you, and I said it would be better if hegave me a head start to explain."I inhaled deeply. "What was the other thing he wanted?"Jacob smiled. "You'll like this. His main request is that he be told as little as possible about all of this. Ifit's not absolutely essential for him to know something, then keep it to yourself. Need to know, only."I felt relief for the first time since Jacob had walked in. "I can handle that part.""Other than that, he'd just like to pretend things are normal." Jacob's smile turned smug; he must suspectthat I would be starting to feel the first faint stirrings of gratitude about now.

　　"What did you tell him about Renesmee?" I struggled to maintain the razor edge in my voice, fighting thereluctant appreciation. It was premature. There was still so much wrong with this situation. Even ifJacob's intervention had brought out a better reaction in Charlie than I'd ever hoped for...

　　"Oh yeah. So I told him that you and Edward had inherited a new little mouth to feed." He glanced atEdward. "She's your orphaned ward—like Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson." Jacob snorted. "I didn'tthink you'd mind me lying. That's all part of the game, right?" Edward didn't respond in any way, soJacob went on. "Charlie was way past being shocked at this point, but he did ask if you were adoptingher. 'Like a daughter? Like I'm sort of a grandfather?' were his exact words. I told him yes. 'Congrats,Gramps,' and all of that. He even smiled a little."The stinging returned to my eyes, but not out of fear or anguish this time. Charlie was smiling at the ideaof being a grandpa? Charlie would meet Renesmee?

　　"But she's changing so fast," I whispered.

　　"I told him that she was more special than all of us put together," Jacob said in a soft voice. He stoodand walked right up to me, waving Leah and Seth off when they started to follow. Renesmee reached outto him, but I hugged her more tightly to me. "I told him, Trust me, you don't want to know about this. Butif you can ignore all the strange parts, you're going to be amazed. She's the most wonderful person in thewhole world.' And then I told him that if he could deal with that, you all would stick around for a whileand he would have a chance to get to know her. But that if it was too much for him, you would leave. Hesaid as long as no one forced too much information on him, he'd deal."Jacob stared at me with half a smile, waiting.

　　"I'm not going to say thank you," I told him. "You're still putting Charlie at a huge risk.""I am sorry about it hurting you. I didn't know it was like that. Bella, things are different with us now, butyou'll always be my best friend, and I'll always love you. But I'll love you the right way now. There'sfinally a balance. We ............