Breaking Dawn - Stephenie Meyer [140]
Look whos talking, Jacob said, theatrically plugging his nose. His face didnt pucker at all while Edward embraced me, not even when Edward composed himself and whispered I love you in my ear. Jacob just kept grinning. This made me feel hopeful that things were going to be right between us, the way they hadnt been for so long now. Maybe now I could truly be his friend, since I disgusted him enough physically that he couldnt love me the same way as before. Maybe that was all that was needed.
Okay, so I passed, right? I said. Now are you going to tell me what this big secret is?
Jacobs expression became very nervous. Its nothing you need to worry about this second
I heard Emmett chuckle again-a sound of anticipation.
I would have pressed my point, but as I listened to Emmett, I heard other sounds, too. Seven people breathing. One set of lungs moving more rapidly than the others. Only one heart fluttering like a birds wings, light and quick.
I was totally diverted. My daughter was just on the other side of that thin wall of glass. I couldnt see her-the light bounced off the reflective windows like a mirror. I could only see myself, looking very strange-so white and still-compared to Jacob. Or, compared to Edward, looking exactly right.
Renesmee, I whispered. Stress made me a statue again. Renesmee wasnt going to smell like an animal. Would I put her in danger?
Come and see, Edward murmured. I know you can handle this.
Youll help me? I whispered through motionless lips.
Of course I will.
And Emmett and Jasper-just in case?
Well take care of you, Bella. Dont worry, well be ready. None of us would risk Renesmee. I think youll be surprised at how entirely shes already wrapped us all around her little fingers. Shell be perfectly safe, no matter what.
My yearning to see her, to understand the worship in his voice, broke my frozen pose. I took a step forward.
And then Jacob was in my way, his face a mask of worry.
Are you sure, bloodsucker? he demanded of Edward, his voice almost pleading. Id never heard him speak to Edward that way. I dont like this. Maybe she should wait-
You had your test, Jacob.
It was Jacobs test?
But-, Jacob began.
But nothing, Edward said, suddenly exasperated. Bella needs to see our daughter. Get out of her way.
Jacob shot me an odd, frantic look and then turned and nearly sprinted into the house ahead of us.
Edward growled.
I couldnt make sense of their confrontation, and I couldnt concentrate on it, either. I could only think about the blurred child in my memory and struggle against the haziness, trying to remember her face exactly.
Shall we? Edward said, his voice gentle again.
I nodded nervously.
He took my hand tightly in his and led the way into the house.
They waited for me in a smiling line that was both welcoming and defensive. Rosalie was several paces behind the rest of them, near the front door. She was alone until Jacob joined her and then stood in front of her, closer than was normal. There was no sense of comfort in that closeness; both of them seemed to cringe from the proximity.
Someone very small was leaning forward out of Rosalies arms, peering around Jacob. Immediately, she had my absolute attention, my every thought, the way nothing else had owned them since the moment Id opened my eyes.
I was out just two days? I gasped, disbelieving.
The stranger-child in Rosalies arms had to be weeks, if not months, old. She was maybe twice the size of the baby in my dim memory, and she seemed to be supporting her own torso easily as she stretched toward me. Her shiny bronze-colored hair fell in ringlets past her shoulders. Her chocolate brown eyes examined me with an interest that was not at all childlike; it was adult, aware and intelligent. She raised one hand, reaching in my direction for a moment, and then reached back to touch Rosalies throat.
If her face had not been astonishing in its beauty and perfection, I wouldnt have believed it was the same child. My child.
But Edward was there in her features, and I was there in the color of