Forks.

It’s been six years since I changed—since Edward changed me.  Six years since Renesmee came into the world.  Six years since we left Forks.

Some of these roads I’ve driven down a hundred times, and I can hear the old pickup truck in my mind, the unsteady rev of the engine.  The first place we stopped was the place Edward was uncertain of: Charlie.  He knew we were coming because I called a few weeks before.  He was surprised, of course—I hadn’t expected to see him after the change.

But here we were.

Renesmee had been to several schools already.  She was about to turn six but appeared as grown as a fifteen- or sixteen-year-old.  Education had been easy; between Edward, Alice, Jasper, Carlisle, Esme, Emmett, and especially Rosalie, her dexterous mind was taking in things beautifully, rapidly. 

I only wish she could have had some friends.  I know how hard it can be, how lonely.  Because she aged so quickly, we had moved her from one school to another every term.  Renesmee would start a school year in one state, finish it in another.  It hid her secret—and ours—but it left her little time for deep friendships.  Only acquaintances, girls to sit with at lunch, or the occasional nervous boy who would ring our phone.

I wanted Charlie to see her, and I wanted to see Jacob.  He stayed behindbut against his will.  It was too conspicuous for Jacob and Renesmee to be together anywhere close to the public, too uncomfortable for Edward to have him with us.  I knew, though, every so often…  the glowing eyes watching us from the darkness at night were no stray cat.

Renesmee was still blissfully unaware of all that Jacob’s imprinting meant. She understood that the bond was there, she knew she would have Jacob in her life for as long as she lived, but she had never been on a date with him, and Edward and I had certainly not had the talk with her yet.  Soon, though, it will change…  Renesmee will reach her maturity age in just one year. 

As Edward pulled the car into the stone driveway, I had the urge to hold my breath when the house came into full view.  Home, I thought.  It had been home, more of a home than I had known before.  Time to see Charlie.

Sensing my hesitation, Edward gazed at me. 

“You’re sure?”

“Of course I’m sure,” I said instantly, affirming for the hundredth time that I wanted to do this.  “And I mean it.”

He didn’t reply but turned to the back seat to wake Renesmee.  Unlike us, she had to sleep; it seemed to aid her growth rate.  I stepped out of the car and walked to the front door, Edward and Renesmee behind me, and knocked.  I wanted to walk in, like the old days, but that was another lifetime.  I was different now, in every sense of the word, nearly 25 years old but frozen in time as an 18-year-old.

Uncertainty continued to flutter inside me, and the door opened: Charlie, with a few more gray hairs at his temples, looking as normal as ever.  And as if I’d never left, he said, “Hey, Bells.”