Chapter 2 

The last place that I wanted to be was in a crowded, over-warm restaurant that I never really enjoyed even as a human.  After Charlie called me, I immediately went hunting.  I knew that the only way that I could stand to be among all these humans and not be overwhelmed by my thirst was to gorge myself with blood.  As I walked toward the door, holding Nessie’s hand tightly, I realized that it was still going to be a challenge to be among so many humans.   

Edward had assured me that I could do this.  I hoped that he was right.  I’ve ventured among the people of Forks a little more than I had been for the past month or so.  About two months ago my eyes finally darkened to the soft amber common to “vegetarian” vampires.  The gossip was that I contracted some rare disease in South America during our honeymoon and that I spent months in isolation at the CDC in Atlanta.  As for why I looked totally different was easy to let the gossip mongers come up with—the story went that I had plastic surgery to fix the ravages of the illness.  Of course, we let that one go.  I was upset at first that people would think me so vain to want plastic surgery, but it served the purpose—it explained why I suddenly was sheet pale and gorgeous.   

This was also Nessie’s first outing among so many humans.  Out of necessity, we had kept her close to home, except to visit at Charlie’s and twice I left her go to La Push to First Beach with Jacob before it became crowded with tourists.  However, we had a story about how she showed up in our lives and it was just as easy to let people’s own imagination take over.  The Cullens and, surprisingly, my father planted the seeds about the tragic story about Edward’s older brother and the accident that took the lives of him and his wife, leaving Renesmee orphaned.  No one seemed to wonder why Edward and this mysterious brother hadn’t been together with the rest of the Cullens, or why, if he was old enough to have a toddler to school-aged daughter, he hadn’t taken care of Edward.  I was sure there was plenty of gossip out there, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear it.