Lili Anne Cullen was not expected, but her parents and family loved her all the same. The observant tame half to Renesmee's unhinged, wild personality, Lili compliments her sister perfectly. Like her twin, she inherited gifts similar to that of he...
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That night as our family packed, the questions Ness and I had were answered with tact. I caught onto the carefully thought out paraphrasing directed towards us. Dad was aware of the anxiety overwhelming me due to everyone's thoughts. He was used to it and was the only one who could somewhat relate to my mental exhaustion. To get some peace of mind, I asked to go outside without caring if I had a chaperone or not. Dad understood and offered to go with me, telling Ness to stay with Mom while she packed for Ness and I. She responded with a huff and a slight stomp in her step as she returned to Mom's side, her arms crossed as she pouted at me.
I smiled at my sister, trying to convince her that she would be okay without me for a bit, "I promise, you aren't missing out on anything. I just need some air for a few minutes." Mom looked between the three of us before she added, "Once we are done packing, we will say bye to everyone and be on our way. Ren, can you help me choose what clothes to bring?" Mom successfully distracted Ness as she started to sift through the folded fabrics laid out before them. Dad offered his hand, "Come on. We don't have much time before we head up towards Alaska."
I led Dad up the tree to my private spot, taking my time climbing, reaching for each branch nimbly. Dad kept with my pace, his thoughts transporting the both of us to the sight of his hands clawing into the bark of a massive tree with my mother clinging on his back for dear life, followed by the sight of my human mother standing near him talking to him like that for hours on end. I looked down a few feet towards him as I thought,"It's nice spending time with Mom alone, so quiet."He chuckled at me, "You're not frustrated by it?"
I shook my head as I brought myself up to the branch I usually set my back up against whenever I needed to unwind, "It's refreshing. I mean, when she tries to shield Ness and I from things, maybe it's a bit inconvenient, but it's probably for the better." As Dad held onto a branch near me, he kneeled on a lower branch to maintain eye contact as he spoke aloud for the first time in the past few minutes, "I know the new advancements with Irina and the Volturi have been troubling you deeply. It's been difficult for everyone, but your ability has exacerbated it. We have a few more minutes before we will have to get into the car, so now is your last chance for the next several hours to get some quiet. Go ahead and block my mind out if you need. I'll be quiet until I hear that it's time."
Dad did as he said and sat still in silence, looking through the rows of trees surrounding us. After a few minutes passed, his brows scrunched, "What are you thinking about?" I told him that I was thinking of the different flowers that were present during the end of summer, now dead and wilted underneath the blanket of snow. I told him I missed the days of sunshine. Dad listened to my trivial thoughts quietly, but with my mental blockade still up, I didn't know what he was thinking. He asked, "Are you still blocking out my mind?" I hummed and he continued, "Interesting. When you block my mind out, I can't hear your thoughts." I tilted my head, "I hadn't thought of that. Why do you think that is?" My blockade came down, and we could hear each other's thoughts again.
