Forever Young

Chapter 29

I was warm when I first started to wake, and I turned to snuggle further into the warmth. A sudden pain caused me to yelp, though, and I bolted upright, tumbling out of bed. Landing back on the pained spot.

"Ow," I cried, rubbing at the back of my nightgown as I flew to my feet. Renesmee sat up, her eyes wide as she took me in. Then she just smiled slightly and fell back on the pillow, chuckling. "Oh, yeah, got to watch out for that," she mumbled jokingly. "The paddle hurts for a long time. I remember that."

I made a face at her, though she couldn't see me with her eyes still closed. It was not funny.

Sighing, I climbed back into bed next to her, laying cautiously on my tummy beside her. It seemed like the pain from my punishment had hardly faded at all. This was much worse than any other lasting soreness from one of Carlisle's punishments.

Glancing at Renesmee, I angrily muttered, "We have to get rid of that paddle." But she just shook her head at me.

"I already tried that once," she said, rubbing at her eyes. "Would not recommend."

My face fell into a pout as she sat up, though I tried to fight it off. It wasn't like the paddle was used often. I would just have to be careful to never make Carlisle that upset. Ever again. For the rest of eternity.

Maybe it would be an idea to try and get rid of it, actually. It seemed worth the risk.

For the first time, I looked around Renesmee's bedroom. It was very different from our own room- or what used to be our room, anyway. This room was far bigger, and the bed in the middle of it was almost as big as Carlisle's and Esme's.

But the blankets didn't have little princesses on them. And there weren't little paper flowers taped to the wall. And there wasn't even a toy chest.

How boring.

Still, I complimented, "I like your room." There were some cool things to it. She had beautiful flowy curtains that outlined the forest, and pretty trinkets on her shelves, and a wall full of pictures.

As she mumbled her thanks and finally sat up in bed, I made my way over to the wall. There were tons of pictures- probably more than a hundred. There didn't seem to be any particular order they were set up in- they were just stacked on top of eachother, some just barely visible. Familiar faces peeks out at me- Carlisle, Esme, Bella, Edward. And Jacob. There were a lot of Jacob.

But there were some of me, too. Sitting under the tree with Takoda, weaving our flower crowns. Me playing soccer with Mato. And so many of Renesmee and I- back when she was smaller. We were swinging, and leaning on eachother, and playing and giggling. We were so happy.

Nessie came to stand beside me, putting an arm around my shoulder. I noticed that she wasn't wearing a nightgown, despite that being what Esme had always put us in for bed. She was just in her underwear and a T-shirt.

What a weird outfit for bed.

"Remember that?" she asked, pointing to one of her and I sitting in the grass with soda cans in our hand, laughing hysterically. I nodded. It had been my first time trying soda, and the fizziness had surprised me, causing me to choke. Somehow it had been funny, though. Probably just because Renesmee had started laughing, and that always made me laugh.

Or at least it used to. Things were different now. I had to remember that.

Seeing the sad expression on my face, Nessie put a hand on my shoulder. "Hey, come on. Help me pick out an outfit. We have to make it good- we'll be out all day."

Though I didn't know exactly where we were going, I still found it fun to help Renesmee pick out her clothes. She had a lot, and they were different than the kind she had used to wear. There was much more variety now- not the same dresses her and I had always worn, with buttons and ruffles and lace. She had jeans and skirts and leggings and everything else I could imagine.