The Consequences {Jacob Black}

Chapter CXXIX

"You are no better than my sister. At all. I get that you love your wife, I really do. And there is a part of me that even respects the fact that you're so devoted to your wife. But that's where it ends; Bella. What about Nessie?"

"Nessie?"

"Your daughter, Renesmee. Nessie, like the Loch Ness Monster," I said, punctuating the sentence with a squeeze of Nessie's hands. "You are so devoted to your wife, but you don't even think about your daughter. I mean you read minds, Douche; how is it that you don't see how upset your daughter is?"

"Of course she's upset; she was allowed to do anything she wanted. No child wants to come home from vacation and go to school," Edward said, his eyes narrowed. I replayed a few memories of the last few days before Jake and I had taken off. I let Edward see Dad telling Nessie that she had to eat her vegetables, that she had to be in bed by ten, that she had to finish the homework that we were all making up for her. It was summer for many other kids, but not Nessie. We made sure that she had things to do, stuff to practice.

"Your child has rules," I said. "And she is disciplined when she doesn't listen to them. Believe it or not, your little monster has an attitude." I remembered Nessie standing with her hands on her hips telling me that she was stronger than mortal people so she didn't need to learn to fight. Dad walked in and quickly sent Nessie to her room, where she was forced to stay until she was willing to apologize for her attitude. "It hasn't been a vacation for her. It's been a life. She actually has to do things. Unlike you all, we make sure that she's normal. But wait, there's more," I said like a T.V. spokesperson. "While you are so busy making sure that your wife is taken care of, you miss out on the most important parts of your daughter's life. She ages, everyday. She grows older and taller and smarter and you don't get to see it."

"Because you took her," Bella screamed at me.

"Let's not forget that your daughter came to my family, came to my home. She was the one that asked if we would let her stay. We didn't kidnap her or force her to come with us like some other people that we know. But this isn't about you, Bella. I mean, I always thought that you were the epitome of selfishness, but damn was I wrong." I took another step towards Edward and Bella, pushing Nessie in between me and Jake, who was carefully inching his way to me. "You," I said, pointing a calloused finger at the blonde-haired demon, "are beyond anything that my sister was. Why is my sister a vampire? Oh, because you couldn't stay away. Why did my sister end up hurting Jake? Because you left. Why did she almost die like four times? Because of you and your actions.

"At least Bella's actions only hurt me and my friends. Your selfishness is putting thousands of people at risk, but let's not talk about them, right? You don't really like to talk about the twenty some-odd people that were killed and turned into vampires and then killed again because you pissed off the wrong vampire. How's that feel? I mean, how many people's lives are on your shoulders? Let's not even talk about vampires. That newborn army was full of people who didn't deserve to die. Victoria killed them to get back at you." He flinched, having to accept that I was right. Victoria came after my sister and me because she was angry at Edward for killing James.

"But you want to talk about your family, right? Because they're the ones that you truly care about, right? That's why you allowed them all to stay in Forks when you left my sister. Oh, wait; you all had to leave. Which is fine because you were the only one that actually cared about Bella. Alice isn't her best friend or anything." His eyes narrowed as I just kept going. "And naturally you took me in like another little sister. You would never do anything to hurt me like take me to Italy, put me in danger with a group of newborns, or allow to Volturi to come and get me. Oh wait, you don't like me. Sorry, I forgot.

"The good news is that you have a daughter and you would never do anything like that to her. That's why when she says to you, 'Dad, I'd like to live with my Aunt Ryanne and Jake,' you would say, 'Absolutely.' Because she deserves the best treatment and the best family, even if that's not your family. I know that you'd be man enough to stick up for your daughter. She's only a child, after all." I hadn't realized that I'd left Nessie behind to stand in Jake's arms until it was pretty much too late. I was standing right in front of Edward, glaring up at him and daring him to tell me that I was wrong about anything that I had said. The problem was that he couldn't do that. I was right. "My father has always stood up for me, whether I was right or wrong. He's always done the best that he could. And you want to know how I know what I'm talking about? Living at home with her and my dad wasn't the best thing for me. So he let me move out, let me move in with Jake and Billy.

"A real man does what's best for his family, not necessarily what makes him happy," I finished. I could feel his cold breath washing over my face, the scent of it making me slightly sick to my stomach. "So then I guess the question is, are you a real man Edward? Or did your masculinity die when your heart stopped beating?" He hissed at me and leaned down with exposed fangs, his hands reaching for me, but before he had a chance to do anything, Jake had an arm wrapped around my waist and hauled me back against his chest.

"I'm taking my niece," Jake said, his eyes narrowed. "She's part of our family. You want to talk to her you call. You can see her if she wants to, but only if it's what Nessie wants." He wrapped his hot hand around the auburn-haired girl's hand and settled me on his side. "Let's get this straight. You touch either of my girls and I'll rip you apart. I don't give a fuck who you are. Don't hurt my family."

Jake pushed us both in front of him and walked us out, his back to us as he made sure that Edward and Bella weren't coming after us. "You can't do this, Jacob!" Bella shouted. "That's my daughter. You can't take her from me. Don't you take my baby!" she screamed. She darted in front of us, trying to get to Nessie. I pulled the girl back behind me so that she was sandwhiched between me and Jake again. "Renesmee come here," she commanded.

Nessie looked like she was broken, torn between listening to her mother and doing what she wanted. "No," she whispered finally. My lips twitched. "No, Mom. I don't want to stay here. I want to go home."

"You are home!" Bella screamed. We had only just made it outside when Bella rushed at us, trying to get to Nessie. Jake exploded, unable to contain his anger. He felt the threat rolling off of Bella. I pushed Ness to the ground, crouching around her and keeping my head tucked into her shoulder blades. Jake's wolf form was bigger since he had accepted Alpha, big enough that he could easily cage me and our niece underneath him. "Give me my daughter."

"Bella, stop," Rosalie said. It was quiet enough that it didn't sound like a shout but firm enough that even Bella was shocked. "I hate you," she said directly at me. "But I want what's best for my niece. Promise me that we can see her."

"Rose!" Bella screeched.

"No, don't," Rosalie said seriously. "She wants to go live with the dogs, let her go, Bella. You can't force her to do something."

"Traitor," Edward hissed. Jake growled as Edward took a step closer. "Please, Renesmee, come home and be with your family."

"I'm trying to go home," she said, roughly pushing me off her and standing in front of Jake. The russet wolf took her shirt between his teeth and pulled her back a little. "I'm trying to go home and be with my family." She looked like she wanted to cry as she realized that she was choosing me over her mother. As wrong as it was, I felt a kind of satisfaction knowing that I had won this tiny little battle.

I crawled out from underneath Jake and stood next to her, ignoring Jake again. "We're leaving, Bella. Call us if you want to talk to your daughter." Jake lowered himself to his stomach. I helped Nessie up, which was pointless, and scrambled up behind her.

"She won't come after you," Carlisle said. The witnesses were watching the scene with sad faces, more of them there than I remembered. "None of us will. But please be open to letting us see our granddaughter?" I nodded and locked me arms around Nessie.

"Let's go home," I whispered.