49 | WELCOME TO THE GOOD LIFE |

➖

ISABELLA SWAN WAS DEAD.

Behind a closed door, Bella Cullen slowly succumbed to the fire in her blood, changing her, morphing her, beginning her rebirth into a fully fledged vampire.

The Cullen family had gathered in the living room as the morning sun dawned, bringing an end to the violent night and bringing new life to the Cullen family. It was all quiet now, all for the exception of the babbling of the happy infant. "Renesmee Briar Cullen," was the full name of the baby girl in Edward's arms according the the elated yet emotionally exhausted new father.

Rosalie beamed at the honor, completely in love with the infant like the rest of room. The others turned to catch Rory's reaction to the name honoring her and Rosalie via the name of a Disney Princess Rory had a life-long gripe with. Edward grinned at her while the baby in his arms giggled and cooed, laying her big brown eyes on her aunt.

"...Fine, I'll take it," Rory, mentally drained from all the high emotions of the last twelve hours, shook her head with a tired grin. "Better her than me," she whispered into Jasper's ear, both chuckling, as Rory pitied the child's mouthful and a half of a name.

Emmett crossed his arms as they watched Edward pass Renesmee to Jacob while he went to check on Bella for the umpteenth time since she began the Change.

"One hell of a night, don't you think?"

Rory snorted, "Hey, you didn't miss the fight this time, at least."

"Hell yeah," Emmett smirked as they all recalled the shocking turn of events that followed Bella's bloody birth.

Jacob hurried out of the house after realizing he had imprinted on Renesmee. "Stop! It's over!" he shouted.

Rory had chased after her stepbrother to the sliding glass door, sensing something significant had occurred. She couldn't wait inside any longer, not helping her family in the fight when she knew she could stop it all with one breath. Upon seeing the love of his life and his newborn niece step out of the safety of the house, Jasper dodged Paul's bite and ran to Rory in a flash, standing in front of her and Renesmee defensively, the Major out in full force.

Sam let out a bark of laughter and three wolves flanked him, heading toward the house. They had their eyes set right on Rory, specifically, the baby she carried. It triggered a long-dead feeling of maternal protectiveness—the Mama Bear syndrome. And she'd be damned if she allowed a hair on Renesmee's head be harmed.

Enraged by their stubbornness, Rory, cradling the infant to her chest, bellowed, "NO MORE! You will all end this violence now." Rory continued, glaring at both sides of the fight, shapeshifter and vampire, Cullen and Pack member.

Each side promptly stopped what they were doing to listen to her Command. Emmett released Embry's dark gray wolf he had had his arms wrapped around, Seth's sandy-brown wolf backed away from Jared's dark brown wolf, and Paul's razor sharp canines snapped shut and away from Alice's face to look toward Rory.

Renesmee let out a cry, the innocent shriek causing each wolf to realize the tiny creature in Rory's arms was not a monster of their nightmares, but a sweet, innocent, newborn child.

Jacob stared right at Sam's hulking figure, "If you kill her, you kill me." He growled before furiously shifting into his russet colored wolf, leaning forward as posed to attack Sam if the black wolf did not heed his words.

"Jacob imprinted." Edward's eyes widened as he read the Jacob's thoughts. "They can't hurt her. Whoever a wolf imprints on can't be harmed. It's their most absolute law."

Rory inwardly rolled her eyes as the Pack backed down entirely. The vampire met a sea of confused looks directed at the baby in her arms and the boy who just saved all their lives—well, saved the peace because in all truth, Rory could've stopped the fight with her ability. The Pack would still want to attack, but they wouldn't be capable of it.

With the sudden, unexpected turn of events, everything should go back to normal. Well, normal for the Cullens at least.

She met her family's bewildered stares with a shrug. "Convenient, huh?"

➖

"She shouldn't be this still."

Rory, with all grace and disposition, snorted as she adjusted Bella's hair one last time. It wouldn't do for her dearest friend to awaken covered in blood and other substances. "Would you rather her be thrashing and screaming like some possessed creature?"

Carlisle shook his head at her, "It's the morphine," he placated Edward.

"Maybe I was too late," the new father murmured dejectedly as he stared at his comatose wife, who actually no longer looked like a possessed creature, thanks to Rory, Alice, and Rosalie's efforts.

"Don't be dramatic, Edward," Jasper clapped his hand on Edward's shoulder supportingly, causing the baby he held with his other arm to squirm and reach for her father. "She's going to be perfectly fine."

"Listen to how strong her heart still beats," Carlisle added encouragingly. Edward had injected way more venom than necessary to change a human in his determination to ensure success.

Jasper raised his brow as he stared at his sister-in-law with scrutiny. "She will awake in no time at all," he commented. In his arms, his niece reached out for her comatose mother.

"Hopefully she remembers everyone," Rory muttered under her breath. This time, all three men shot her a look. She raised her hands up innocently. "You never know. Just saying."

They turned back to observe Bella, for it was truly interesting for the vampires to watch the unusual change. She joined Jasper's side, kissing his cheek while she scooped Renesmee from his arms. "Well I think me and little Ren here will leave y'all to your brooding for some much needed girl time." Renesmee let out a happy giggle in agreement as they left the room.

Maybe it was the fact Rory had pulled Renesmee from the womb, but the two quickly formed a special bond. Next to Edward, baby Ren—as Rory liked to call the child because the alternative Nessie was decidedly worse than he girl's full name—always wanted her Auntie Rory. Of course, Jacob was a close third, given her imprint bond, with the rest of the family following close after. She had everyone wrapped around her little finger in the few hours of her existence.

Renesmee was a surprisingly calm baby for all the ruckus she caused in the womb. Rory expected the child the cry and fuss endlessly, especially with Bella out of commission, but she seemed to understand a lot of the world around her, much more than a human baby would. She was sweet and intelligent, for she grew by the hour. In the next three days, she matured from being a newborn to a three month old baby, pointing and smiling at every new thing. She even demonstrated a unique ability of being able to share her thoughts through physical touch. The three day old baby mostly used her gift to demand for food or for someone to hold her.

With the family drama at ease, the Treaty between the Pack and the Cullens renewed, Renesmee healthy and not the antichrist, and Bella in the midst of the Change, the household resumed being the peaceful haven Rory had always seen it. Slowly everyone left the house—Carlisle first returned to the hospital, then Emmett, Rose, and Jasper to the hardware store to work on the secret cottage, Alice and Esme visited the grocery store and the mall, and then finally Rory stepped out of the safe haven.

She left the comfort of the secluded house and forests for the first time since returning of Forks to visit the Rez—it was still too risky to go into town with her supposed death still fresh in Fork's minds. With Sam and Jacob's permission, she took the long mountainous path under a disguise to reunite with her mother and stepfather. Stella and Billy received her return with open arms and joy. She spent time catching up with her mother and stepfather, even playing with her old dog, Orion, before returning back home with a duffle bag full of baby clothes for Renesmee.

Renesmee had become quite the little doll. She never wore an outfit for more than two hours at most, partly because of her fast growth rate, but mostly because someone was always putting her in some new, adorable clothing. Alice dressed her in the most stylish, fashion forward fits, Rosalie put her in classy, puffy dresses of lace and satin, and Esme liked to match outfits with the baby. Rory was intent on keeping Renesmee humble, switching her more ostentatious fashion statements for more comfortable, basic yet cute onesies with dinosaurs or stars and moons.

The baby loved the attention from all her family members, but she mostly just wanted to meet her mother. Every other moment the baby would ask for Bella by showing whoever happened to be carrying her the image of Bella's sleeping face and her memory of Bella's smile. They were all glad that Bella finally awoke just three days after Renesmee's birth.

"When I awoke, I ripped a man apart," Rory said all too nonchalantly as they waited for a Edward and newly awakened Bella to return from her first hunt. They were all discussing what Bella would be like, with how uncontrollable and unpredictable newborns were, it was a game of dice.

Jacob glanced at the baby in Esme's arms worriedly, "Maybe we should wait to let her see Renesmee."

"I was joking." Not really, but no parent should be denied the right to see their child. Rory shrugged. "Bella'll be fine. I had no idea who I even was, I was quite messy in all aspects  my first few days—weeks, really—of being a vampire. I teared off heads when my own was too much to handle, so sue me."

Jasper looked at his girlfriend weirdly. "Why does that fact not even surprise me?"

Emmett chuckled deeply. "You know...I thought it was a lil' sus how fast you reattached her arm last week...guess you have experience putting body parts back together, Jazz-man. Or should I say Ji—"

Rosalie's hands covered the baby's ears so fast while shooting the three death glares. "May I remind you Renesmee is in the room?" she hissed. The blonde grabbed her into her own arms as to shield the child from her childish aunt and uncles. She walked into the kitchen for a fresh bottle of O-Negative, Ren's favorite.

"Yeah, shut the fuck up, Emmett," Rory stuck her tongue out.

Jasper punched him in the shoulder. "Idiot."

"Ow," Emmett groaned, rubbing the sore spot.

"You should be more worried for yourself," Jasper raised his brow at Jacob pointedly, having read the alpha's current emotions.

"I would die for Nessie," he declared all too solemnly.

Rory rolled her eyes at her stepbrother's dramatics. Ever since he imprinted on Renesmee, he was acting all weird and overly formal like he wanted to impress the drooling baby. "That's part of the problem, Jakey-poo," Rory patted his shoulder, "The entirety of that sentence just then will send you to the grave once Bella knows the truth."

"Way to be positive, Rory," Jacob muttered, looking much paler than normal as he brushed past them to wait outside the house.

"I keep it real, bro," Rory called after him with a cheshire like grin. "How badly do y'all think she's gonna beat his ass?" she asked in a lower tone.

She met Alice's eyes and the psychic merely shrugged. "No decision, no vision."

Jasper tilted his head debating the thought, "Perhaps a few broken bones. She has no control of her strength, but not due to high emotions. I read her when she awoke, but she wasn't as aggressive as some newborns I've faced." He explained his logic with a shrug.

"Nah. No way. Jacob won't get one scratch. Maybe if it was you, but not Belly, the merciful saint," Emmett chuckled. "She's tough, but she's too forgiving."

"You'll have to remember," Rory reminded them sternly as they all heard the sounds of Edward and Bella approaching the house, the latter most eager to meet her daughter. "She's not just a newborn, she's a mother."

They quieted down their little wager as Edward led Bella into the house, Jacob right on their tail with a pinched expression, clearly on the edge still. Smiles were all shared around as they laid their eyes on newborn Bella Cullen.

The pale brunette with bright crimson eyes that stepped into the living room was undeniably Bella. She didn't look that different, only now her features were sharper, more defined, perfect to the human eye. However, Bella was much more graceful, a stark change from the klutzy Bella Swan who bruised like an apple, moving with the telltale vampire "glide" as Rory liked to call the effortless model strut all immortals had.

"Welcome to the family." Esme hugged her daughter-in-law, Carlisle following suit after as Bella made her way down the line.

Alice was beaming as she grabbed both of Bella's hands excitedly. "You look amazing, Bella."

"I'm sure not looking like the walking dead is a major improvement to any look," Rory drawled as she approached Bella until they were face to face. "That being said—you're finally a vampire, like you've literally wanted to be since junior year and it's only taken having a hybrid baby to take you to the brink of death that really did it. Not the crazy nomads. Not the Volturi. Not the newborn army. Congrats, B." Rory's face broke in a wide grin as she opened her arms to embrace her best friend.

"Still the same Rory I see," Bella smiled, accepting the hug as they walked further into the room where everyone else had gathered around a giggling tiny baby in Rosalie's arms.

Carlise wrapped his arm around Esme, "Someone's been waiting to meet you."

"Rose," Edward said as he led Bella to the blonde who had her back turned.

Rose turned to face them and Bella finally lays her eyes on her daughter who looks a few months old. Rose and Bella exchange a smile as she handed Renesmee over to Bella, who looks as though she's about to cry when she holds her daughter for the first time. Renesmee tenderly touches Bella's cheek.

Bella blinked after a second, her jaw slightly ajar. "What was that?"

Edward grinned, "She showed you the first memory she has of you."

Bella was bewildered as she looked at her daughter in awe. "Showed me? How?"

"How do I hear thoughts?" Edward asked rhetorically. "How does Jasper manipulate emotions? How does Alice see the future? How does Rory control the world?"

"A little overkill, Eddie boy," Rory interrupted with a roll of her eyes and a small chuckle, "but in essence, she's gifted."

Bella nodded and smiled at her daughter happily. She noticed how she definitely didn't look like a newborn infant anymore with a slight frown, a little upset that she had missed so much of Renesmee's first days. "How have I only been out for three days?"

"Her growth rate is unprecedented," Carlisle explained scholarly.

"I mean, it took her less than three weeks to grow into a whole baby inside the womb," Rory pointed out unhelpfully. Bella rolled her eyes and continued to bond with her daughter more, smelling her scent, tickling her stomach, holding her little fingers...it was all a very sweet sight until hotheaded Jacob stepped in.

"All right. That's enough experimenting for one day." He tried to grab Renesmee from Bella's arms, but the newborn was faster and quickly stepped back, her brows furrowing in confusion.

"I swear it's like you have a death wish, you just can't not say anything stupid for more than two days," Rory pinched the bridge of her nose as she watched the beginning unfolding of disaster.

Edward shook his head. "Jacob." He raised his hand warningly. "She's doing great."

"Yeah," Jacob acknowledged his point with dismissive shrug, his gaze trained on the baby. "Let's not push it though."

Bella narrowed her eyes. "What's your problem?"

Rosalie pushed Jacob forward slightly with a smirk. "Oh. Do tell her, Jacob."

Emmett crossed his arms. "This is gonna be good."

Edward read everyone's thoughts of concern as Bella grew more suspicious and annoyed with Jacob and the secret everyone else seemed to know. "Hold on a second," Edward quickly took Renesmee from her arms and passed her to a waiting Rory.

"Bella," Jacob knew he was in deep shit now, his tone more nervous now, "Look, it's a wolf thing." He was looking around subtly for an escape, the look in Bella's eyes alarming him.

"What's a wolf thing?" she snapped, walking closer. They could all feel the danger the newborn vampire emitted.

Renesmee put her hand on Rory's cheek, showing her an image of Bella's angry face and Jacob's fearful expression, wanting them both to be smiling again instead. Rory felt bad that she was being affected and hugged the baby comfortingly.

Jacob tried to back away slowly while explaining himself. "Um...You know we have no control over it. We can't choose who it happens with. And it doesn't mean what you think, Bella. I promise."

Bella's jaw clenched as she realized what Jacob was talking about. "Take Renesmee out of the room," she said, not masking the anger she felt.

Knowing Rory wanted to watch the drama, Rosalie eagerly grabbed her niece instead and disappeared into the other room.

Edward tried to calm Bella down, placing his hand on her shoulder gently. "Edward, don't touch me right now. I don't want to hurt you." She was trying to wrap her mind around what Jacob had ungracefully revealed about her without destroying the entire house in her fury.

Edward glared at Jacob and stepped away, crossing his arms. Suddenly, Bella grabbed Jacob by the back of the neck and promptly marched him out of the room, the rest of the vampires following after. They all watched from the back porch as Bella threw Jacob onto the ground with the force of a small earthquake.

"You imprinted on my daughter?" she shouted furiously, her eyes blazing with fire.

"It wasn't my choice!" He stood with his hands raised innocently.

Bella was half crazed with hysterics and anger. "She's a baby!"

Jacob shook his head fastidiously. "It's not like that," he insisted. "You think Edward would let me live if it was?" He motioned at the vampire who leaned on the porch railing all too calmly.

Edward shrugged as Bella shot him a look of annoyance. "I'm still debating it."

Bella turned back to Jacob. "I've held her once! One time, Jacob! And already you think that you have some moronic wolfy claim on her? She's mine!" Bella shoved Jacob hard and he fell straight on his ass as both Leah and Seth in their wolf form arrived on the scene.

Leah growled at Bella, and Jacob got back to his feet, waving her off. "It's fine, Leah."

"Oh, so now she's not gonna tear someones arm off for fighting you—okay, I see how it is," Rory muttered bitterly. Jasper wrapped his arm around her and rubbed the healed arm soothingly.

"You're gonna stay away from her."

Jacob shook his head. "You know I can't do that."

Bella punched him hard in the stomach, putting him on his ass again.

"Stop her, Edward," Esme said worriedly.

"He said it's fine," Edward brushed it off. "She's amazing, right?" He eyed his wife in complete awe.

"He'll live, Esme," Rory promised. "Just let it happen."

Jacob was still trying to convince Bella his bond to her infant baby was completely explainable and not fucked up at all. "Do you remember how much you wanted to be around me 3 days ago? That's gone now, right?"

"Long gone," Bella snapped.

"Because it was her," Jacob insisted seriously. "From the beginning it was Nessie who wanted me there."

Jasper shook his head while Rory muttered softly, "Should've stopped while he was ahead."

"Nessie?" Bella was furious, the sort of anger that made men fear for their lives, or, in this case Jacob Black. "You nicknamed my daughter after the Loch Ness monster?" she snarled, moving forward to attack.

But before she could lay a hand on Jacob, Seth jumped at her, trying to tackle the angry newborn. Without a second thought, Bella brushed the wolf aside like a gnat, sending Seth flying into the trunk of a tree. The wolf's cries snapped Bella out of her blinding fury, her eyes widening in shock of her own actions.

Jacob jogged over to the crumpled wolf. "Seth, are you okay?"

He painfully whimpered in response.

Bella frowned deeply, "Seth, I'm sorry."

"He'll be all right," Jacob said as Leah nudged her brother to the cover of the trees to shift out of their wolf forms so he could heal properly.

Rory let out a tsk. "Your betas always take the fall, huh, JJ?"

He rolled his eyes at her comment and turned to Bella again. "Bella, you know me better than anyone. All I want is for Ness—Renesmee to be safe. Happy. Look, nothing ever made sense before. You. Me. Any of it. And now I understand why. This was the reason."

Later on that night, the conflict and tension somewhat resolved, Rory was sketching the sleeping infant in Bella's arms. The living room was empty for once, Carlisle had a shift at the hospital, and everyone else went to hunt, the wolves had gone out for the night, leaving the three girls alone.

"She's an angel, Bella," Rory murmured as she shaded Renesmee's cherubic cheeks.

"Please tell me you don't call her that idiotic nickname?" Bella asked, sounding as though she had been trying to hold in her thoughts for a long time. She wanted to be grateful for Jacob's intervention in the near obliteration of her family, but at the same time, Bella wanted to protect her daughter first and foremost.

Rory rolled her eyes. "Me and Ren have a special bond, I would never embarrass her like her so called Imprint."

"It's a load of bullshit, isn't it?" Bella let out a breath of relief that Rory understood her point of view. "Like, I should be pissed over it, it's not just my newborn high-strung emotions, right?"

Rory placed her sketchbook on the coffee table, turning to face Bella with a look of shared disdain of the subject matter. "Dude, he was there for her birth, of course it's fucking weird! I'm mad for you, like just because his genetics technically saved our whole family, it doesn't mean he should stake a claim on your newborn kid, especially since he was in love with you not too long ago. It's like some badly written subplot."

"He did say the Imprint relationship was whatever the Imprintee wanted—protector, best friend, older brother," she said hopefully of the possible types of platonic relationships between her daughter and childhood best friend.

Rory shrugged. "There's a high likelihood once she matures—and you know, isn't crawling anymore—his feelings will change." She glanced out the window where somewhere nearby the wolves were protecting the house. "But for now, Jake will stop at nothing to protect her. And with the way our luck is, we're going to really be glad you didn't kill him when the worse does come."

"You think?"

"I've realized a long time ago that the universe has a grudge against us." Rory chuckled bitterly. "Seems there's a pattern with you and I and life threatening situations. Odds are back to me now."

First, it was James being after Bella back in junior year of high school. Then, it was Rory's miscarriage and subsequent trip to Italy which was a whole other mess. Then Victoria creating the newborn army to kill Bella. Rory had to go on the run to escape the Volturi and Bella just gave birth to a hybrid baby and was now a vampire.

"Leave the odds to Alice," Bella smiled comfortingly, understanding Rory's cynicism while being optimistic at the same time. In Bella's mind, if Alice didn't see it coming, the likelihood of disaster was low.

"Trust me, I don't need to be a psychic to know I'm due for some tragedy soon."

➖

OK YALL IM SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG TO UPDATE SMH long story short, school and midterms got me fûcked up :))))))))))))

anyways i wanna announce a little contest since its the holiday season, a Crimson Christmas Contest if you will.

so to enter the competition, you have to submit either:

- a book cover for crimson

- an edit/manip (like somehow photoshop jasper and rory into a pic maybe)

- a trailer/video

submissions will be judged on effort/creativity and please note that it's just for fun! dont stress out over this please! i just thought it'd be a fun idea!

prizes

honorable mentions: winners will get a follow/shoutout from me

3rd place: winner will get to read the final chapters of Crimson before they are officially published

2nd place: winner will have a short oneshot written for them with any characters of your choosing from my stories or mini plots

1st place: winner will create a original character that will be featured in any of my stories such as crimson, obsidian, harbor, oxygen, etc.

you can direct message me your submissions!! and you can submit as many as you want!

deadline: december 31, 2018