this town * cullen

chapter nine

            

I suppose Mondays were good – when you wake up next to someone like Renesmee Cullen. Her face slept peacefully in front of me, her curls across the pillow wildly, a smile played on my lips at the sight of it in such disarray. She was beautiful, and my eyes couldn't help but watch her sleeping face with admiration. Her cheeks were pink, her eyelids pale lavender, and her lips slightly parted in sleep. I could look at her face all day and night.

"Alec," I head the whisper from the door that was behind me. I turned my head, trying not to dishevel the sleeping beauty. I looked to the voice – Edward – with a curious expression. He raised his finger, telling me to follow him out the door, but also moving it to his lips to keep me quiet. I nodded in response.

I took a long glance back at Renesmee, her breathing even and obviously still asleep. I picked up my glasses from the stand beside me and I crept my way out of the bed, trying my hardest to keep the bed still. Edward waited in the doorway and then into the hallway, where I closed the door silently.

I looked up to him, questioning why he pulled me away. I was surprised I was even awake, as I was rarely awake before Renesmee. Even with my early morning runs, I never awoke as early.

"Bella and I just wanted to talk with you," he spoke. We were walking down the hall, and towards downstairs. "I wish I could fully read your mind, but it's more emotion than it is actual thoughts," he began as we descended the stairs. "I can read what you feel for her, and that you love her." I blushed at this, and he laughed at my reaction.

"I know this must be awkward for you," he laughed again while I shrugged in response. I didn't mind being around him, but I always had to remember who he was and what he could do. I knew he was old, and it surprised me he was so willing accept a relationship like ours. Though, I suppose living that long opened your eyes.

"I know what she thinks about you. I hear it in her mind, and she's terrified of losing you. She also hates how much she's ended up like me, falling for a human," he laughed a dry laugh. We had made it to the end of the stairs, taking us into the living room where everyone spent most of the time. Bella was sitting at a table in the room, a small scrapbook sitting closed in front of her. She smiled at us as we entered.

"Sit, we want to show you some things," he smiled a bit, making me sit between him and Bella. The book sitting in front of us seemed relatively new, barely used. I had one like it at home that held memories of my childhood, but mine was much older.

They propped open the book; the first photo was a picture of a smaller Renesmee. I couldn't help but smile; the small curls evident early in her development. Even as a baby there was a sense of intelligence in the baby's eyes.

"This was the night she was born. Lots of drama." Neither of them laughed, but I noticed writing underneath the picture, Renesmee Carlie Cullen. September 11th. The handwriting was neat and perfect, and I felt happy to know her full name now.

"Her middle name is Carlie?" I asked, feeling it fit. It was so simple for such a unique name.

"Her first and middle name are mixtures of our parents' names," Bella explained. "Renee and Esme, Charlie and Carlisle," she added, and I smiled. Bella's fingers gracefully flipped the book to the next page.

I was greeted with a picture of Renesmee and Bella together, red eyes evident in the photo. I tried not to react at the sight of it, but they explained it anyhow.

"This is just a few days after Nessie was born," Bella smiled. The child in the photo seemed much older than a few days, more correctly, she looked a few months old. "This was the first time I held her." She didn't pause before she added, "I was also a newborn at this time, so human blood kept my eyes red, and they didn't fade for a few months," she explained why her eyes were red. I didn't concern me as much as it did that Renesmee seemed so old in the young photo.