Falling for Autumn | Jacob Black

Chapter 51 [edited]

Snow lightly fell from a soft grey sky, transforming the forest around the Cullens' home into a breathtaking winter wonderland. Chilly winds playfully swept through the branches, scattering fallen pine needles across the white ground; they crunched under our boots as Jacob, Bella and I took Renesmee on a walk, Bella desperate to give her daughter some kind of normal childhood by letting her play in the snow.

"It'll be good for her to learn how to be human," Bella explained to Edward earlier in the morning shortly after we arrived. "We want her to blend in, right?"

There wasn't much argument from Edward to begin with; I could tell by the amused smirk he flashed at his wife that he was only thinking of her and how she felt about the cold when she announced the walk in the first place. The little chuckle under his breath let me know that I was right.

"Hey Nessie, let's build a snowman!" Jacob exclaimed as we entered a small meadow. "This is the perfect snow for it!"

Bella shook her head as they raced ahead a few feet, smiling at the squeals of laughter radiating from her child. She turned to look at me just as Jacob began rolling the first ball of snow for the base.

"This is what you get to look forward to, you know." Bella grinned. "All this excitement about building snowmen and being in the holiday spirit."

I grinned back at her as I placed a hand on my growing stomach. I wasn't showing a baby bump just yet, but there definitely was a noticeable amount of weight gain compared to two months ago; my favorite jeans were a testimony to that.

"He's so good with Casey too," I admitted, watching my fiancé scoop more snow in his hands for Renesmee to add onto the snowman. "Those two are practically inseparable when we hang out with Chloe and Leah."

"That's a good thing... at least he'll be comfortable handling a child. Edward was really out of his comfort zone after Renesmee was born, wasn't he?" Bella laughed.

"He's gotten a lot better at fatherhood though." I chuckled along with her.

"Aunt Autumn!" Renesmee ran towards us, leaving Jacob to finish the snowman as she let out a squeal of delight. "Will you make it snow for me?"

"Of course, Nessie." I wrinkled my nose playfully at her before leading her a few feet away from her mom.

Focusing on the wind around me, I wiggled my fingers, and seconds later, tiny snowflakes fluttered around us; the motion of the flakes made me think of a snow globe being shaken, causing my mind to flood with memories of Grandma giving me a Nutcracker snow globe for Christmas when I was ten years old. I was obsessed with the play since I was a little girl, and Grandma made sure to take me to see it every Christmas before we moved to Forks.

Shaking my head to bring myself back to reality, I watched in amusement as Renesmee jumped up to catch a falling snowflake in her hand, Bella and Jacob both watching with bemused expressions. Just as Renesmee's feet touched the ground, a snarl reached the meadow, causing Bella's head to snap towards the mountains.

"Irina!" She exclaimed, her eyes wide with surprise and concern for her cousin-in-law. "Jacob, stay with Renesmee!"

In the blink of an eye, Bella was gone, leaving the three of us standing in the meadow in confusion.

"What was that about?" Jacob raised an eyebrow questioningly at me, his eyes shifting to scan the treeline.

"I have no idea..." my voice trailed off as Bella burst through the trees, her expression crestfallen.

"She's gone... I couldn't reach her." She sighed. "We should head back to the house, let Edward and Carlisle know in case she came here for a reason."

"I have a weird feeling about this," I whispered to Bella as we started to walk back to the Cullens' house.