Chapter 4

Grace age update: 9 months

Esme POV

We were given no time to prepare for the Volturi's visit. Alice's vision clearly stated that they would arrive in a month or less. To invite all our friends and covens from all over the globe would take too long and after seven years, I doubted some of them would want to see the Volturi again. Carlisle made it clear that we just had to face them and get it over with.

They were coming for Renesmee, after all, to see if she stopped ageing yet. And indeed she did. She's been stuck in the body of a sixteen, seventeen-year-old girl for a year now, showing no signs of gaining more height or ageing more. Hopefully, this visit will be over quick.

I was so deep in thought that I didn't notice little Grace playing in her pit of balls. Suddenly all my senses were on alert and I got this sickening feeling inside of me. We forgot about Grace! I scooped her up and held her tight against me, making my way to Carlisle's office where Bella and Edward also were.

"We forgot about Grace." Edward read my thoughts.

Carlisle closed his eyes and rubbed his temples, "Indeed. We were so busy worrying about Renesmee, that we've forgotten the only one that could actually be in trouble."

Bella looked between Grace and Carlisle and my concerned faces, "What could happen if they find out about her? They can't possibly insist on turning her?"

"No." Carlisle answered, "That would create an immortal child. We'll have to hide her."

Edward frowned, "Where? We can't take her to Sam's. Aro will know of her the moment he read one of our minds. The same goes for taking her to Charlie."

He was right. No matter where we take her, Aro will find out anyways by looking at either one of our thoughts. The room went deadly silent as we all brainstormed how we're going to protect little Grace. At that moment the awful stench of a wet dog drifted past me as Renesmee entered the room with Jacob. Carlisle's head snapped up and I swore I could see a little light bulb flicker above him.

"If we can't take Grace to the pack, we could bring the pack to Grace." he uttered a light chuckle, "Alice can't see the future past Jacob's smell. And that's only him alone. If the stench of one werewolf can mess up a vampire's gift like that, just think what that smell of the whole pack would do to the Volturi's gifts?"

Edward nodded as he understood what Carlisle said, "So we bring the whole pack here, live with the stench for a month at the most so they'll be thrown off and Aro won't see much past us."

"He will see what we want him to see. We're a little more used to werewolf stenches than they are, thanks to Jacob's visits."

"Gee, thanks for the compliment." Jake muttered sarcastically, "I get what you're planning. I'll have Sam and the pack over by tomorrow morning. They'll do anything for Grace."

I felt relief wash over me and kissed the tiny person's cheek, smiling as her fingertips made contact with my chin. If this plan worked, then we had a bright future ahead of us with her in the family.

After a week of practising, the plan was finally ready. The pack would patrol the house day in and day out, while Emily would stay inside the house with us. She's human after all. When the Volturi shows up, she'll stay in the nursery with Grace to keep her quiet and fed throughout their visit. All the heartbeats of the wolves will keep them from hearing Grace's, and their stenches will definitely overrule hers. All that could go wrong was that she'd start crying or making noise, but I pushed that out of my thoughts. No need to jinx it, right?

By the second week, the stench of wet dog became almost unbearable. There were at least fifteen werewolves around the house and Sam even promised ten new recruits by the next day. I kept reminding myself that this was all for Grace. If it weren't, then the wolves would've been long gone. Luckily Emily and Bella helped when it came to cooking for them.

To pass the time they made turns on watching Grace, however, we only let the boys we know to hold and play with her. Carlisle suggested that we should hide her fresh baby scent with their werewolf ones, just to make sure the Volturi keeps away from her. Sam, Paul and Jared made turns in the morning, Embry, Quill and Seth in the afternoon and Jacob shared with Renesmee in the evenings.

After the third week, I honestly started doubting Alice's vision. Were they really coming this month? Didn't she mistake it by the next month? But the sound of a wolf howling, the signal, proved once again that Alice's visions were never wrong.

They have arrived.

The plan jumped into action. The pack took their positions, some already in wolf form in case the Volturi would attack. Rosalie took little Grace up to Emily, who would put her to sleep as quick as possible and finally the rest of the family would wait for Aro and his coven to arrive on the back porch. I just hoped that Grace had enough warm milk in her to make her doze off quick. Also that she wouldn't cry or make any noise.

Third Person POV

The Cullens all waited on the back porch of the forest mansion, mate standing beside mate. Except for Renesmee, who was held tightly by her parents with Jacob close behind her. They were well aware of the Volturi approaching, getting closer and closer as the darkness consumed them. At the bottom of the porch stood Sam, Paul and Jared, all three ready to shift into wolves when the threat comes. Embry, Quill and Seth, on the other hand, were already shifted, guarding all corners of the house. As for Grace, she was being rocked asleep by Emily as we speak, slowly dozing off but too slow for Emily's taste.

It was decided that Leah would stay with Emily to cover all human scents and to make sure they're completely safe. Leah, the girl who wasn't on good terms with the girl who turned out to be her ex's imprint at all.

Then the red coats appeared, first Aro, Caius and Marcus at the front, then followed by their most loyal and powerful guards, Alec, Jane, Demetri and Felix.

Carlisle straightened and pushed Esme behind him for extra safety just as the three ancients stopped a few feet from Sam.

Aro's crimson eyes lit up in amusement as he noticed the werewolves surrounding the house, "Carlisle. Long time, my friend."

"Aro." he greeted stiffly and grasped Esme's hand tighter.

"Quite a lot of shapeshifters for just a friendly visit." he made the remark.

"I think we both know that if this was a friendly visit, there'd be tea involved." Carlisle replied, "State your business, Aro."

Caius growled, "You know what we came here to do, Carlisle. Do not act so dimwitted! We came to see the half-human, half-vampire child your coven has spawned."

Aro calmly held up his hand to silence his brother, "Indeed, we did. Aren't you inviting us in? Such poor manners."

Esme's voice was stern as she spoke, "We don't need to sit down around a table for what you came to do. If you want to see Renesmee, take a look and get it over with."

Bella and Edward stepped down to the Volturi with Renesmee between them. Obviously Jacob would follow and keep close to his imprint. Aro's smile widened and he released a shrill laugh as he, once again, heard her heart beating and the blood rushing through her veins.

"My, you have grown to be magnificent." he breathed and held out his hand to Edward.

Edward hesitantly took Aro's hand and let him read his thoughts, hoping that he wouldn't see anything about Grace. After a minute Aro seemed satisfied about what he saw. Renesmee has indeed stopped growing and ageing and would remain this way forever. Again, no laws were broken and the Cullens kept their word. Caius huffed as Aro said those words. He desperately wanted them to break a law just to end them once and for all. Marcus could only stand there with the guards in silence, figuring they didn't need his opinion on this matter.

Meanwhile, Emily was finally managing to get Grace to sleep, feeling relieved because it took a little longer than usual.

"Finally." Leah muttered, earning a shush from Emily, "Why? They can't exactly hear me over the sound of their own egos."

"Yeah, but you might wake up Grace. Then their egos will be the least of our problems." Emily reasoned and sat down on the rocking chair.

Leah rolled her eyes and marched over to where Grace was sleeping in her crib, leaning over to check up on her, "Nope. She's gone. Nothing to worry about. Can I go now?"

Emily shook her head, "No, Sam said you should stay here."

"Well," Leah replied mockingly and picked up a toy from one of the shelves, "Sam's not my alpha anymore. Jake is. I automatically stopped caring and listening to Sam when he left me for you. And so far it's been working out perfectly for me, thank you very much!"

In her frustration she threw the toy over her shoulder, not realizing that it contained batteries...

The moment it hit the floor it let out a high pitched "Hello friends!" To both the girls' horror, it started singing the ABC song. The sudden noise frightened Grace awake and she started crying, causing both Emily and Leah to pale.

Down in the backyard, Aro looked up at the sound of terrible music and a baby crying. The Cullens tried acting normally, but Rosalie's fear-filled eyes gave them away.

"Is there any other reason you didn't invite us in, Carlisle?" he asked with narrowed eyes, "Like it has something to do with the sound of an infant crying?"

"I think we're done here." Carlisle said, "You've seen Renesmee, now leave."

"Why do you have a human child, Carlisle?" he pushed on.

"Goodbye, Aro."

"Show it to me!"

Carlisle knew it was over. Aro won't leave until he's seen what he wanted, and if they kept refusing him, he'd order an attack and could easily wipe out the Cullen Coven. He didn't want to put his family, nor the wolves in that kind of danger. There was nothing left to do than to show them Grace.

He sighed in defeat and stepped aside for the Volturi to enter his house.

Rose was freaking out as she blocked the door to Grace's nursery, not allowing Carlisle and Esme to go in or Emily to come out. Emmett was desperately trying to pull her away by the waist but it was no use. Not even the strongest vampire in the family could remove her from her spot.

"I'm not letting them near her!" she cried and clawed at Emmett's arms, scratching him deeper than other times, "I'm not letting them see her! They'll hurt her! They'll kill her!"

If vampires could cry, her cheeks would’ve been wet and tear-stained. Instead, she just erupted into silent, empty sobs that caused Emmett grief to look at. The last thing he ever wanted to see was his mate that upset. He didn't let go, though, and kept pulling her from the nursery. Jasper seemed pained to help as well. He would've fought, too, if he was in her position. The very last thing he wanted in the world was for those damn Volturi to get anywhere near little Gracie. He didn't know what he'd do if they hurt her, go mad with fury? Seek revenge in the most brutal way? Start another vampire war?

They succeeded to remove Rose from the doorway and Emmett had her caged in his arms before she could escape, giving Carlisle and Esme access to the nursery.

"No!" she cried as they left with Grace, "No, Carlisle, put her back! Put her back! Don't do this..."

But they had no choice. All they could do was hope Aro will pardon a nine-month-old baby or order them to turn her when she's come of age. It would be against their will, but it was better than seeing her getting killed by the Volturi. No one even thought or hoped for a miracle to happen. There were just no miracles with the Volturi.

They were waiting in the family room with Edward, Bella, Alice, Renesmee and Jacob. The rest of the wolf pack waited outside on the porch to save space in the house.

Carlisle came down the stairs with Esme, holding a very awake little Grace in his arms. However, she didn't smile or make cute baby noises like she usually did when she's just woken up. It was like she could feel the tension in the atmosphere. Rosalie sat on the bottom stair with Emmett, unable to do anything as she watched her little piece of joy being delivered to monsters. All the Volturi's crimson eyes were wide as they kept staring at the baby girl.

"Aro, meet Grace," Carlisle said softly as he revealed what felt like his own daughter to the other coven.

Aro stepped closer, and so did Caius and, surprisingly, Marcus, too, who hasn't said anything at all the whole time. The guards remained on their spots, unmoving. All except for Demetri, whose eyes turned from burgundy to pitch black. Felix noticed his change in behaviour and suddenly felt on edge.

"Oh my." Aro breathed, "Look at that; an actual human infant living under the same roof as vampires. How do you control yourselves around her, I wonder? She smells - appetizing."

"Don't you dare touch her." Rose growled from the stairs, "Unless you want to know what burning in hell feels like!"

Aro ignored her comment and kept staring at the baby as if he has never seen one before. Then all hell broke loose from Caius.

"Why are you harbouring a human infant, Carlisle?!" he snapped mercilessly, "Were you planning on creating an immortal child? It wouldn't be surprising, for you hated the hybrid for growing up so fast. And you know very well that that's against our law!"

Grace started crying at his sudden outburst and Carlisle handed her to Renesmee for comfort. She immediately projected her memories to Grace to calm her down, while Jasper did his part with the positive emotions. Through all that, Aro couldn't help but feel entertained by watching the whole scene unfold in front of him. How a bunch of blood-sucking vampires could care so much for a human child…

However, a decision was still to be made. Meanwhile, Demetri started shaking and breathing heavily between Felix and Alec. Felix nudged him in the side in an attempt to snap him out of whatever he was thinking. Why was nobody paying attention to him?

"What the hell's wrong with you?!" Alec whispered in annoyance.

"That is interesting." Aro grinned, not aware of his guard losing control behind him, "Tell me, Carlisle, how do you plan on raising her? Do you plan on telling her about your nature?"

Carlisle glanced from Grace to Aro, "She's a Cullen, she deserves to know and I'll explain it to her myself when she's old enough to understand."

"And when's that? When she's ten? Twelve? Twenty? She'll start noticing things, Carlisle. She'll ask questions. Like why do you never age, why do you sparkle in the sunlight, why are you physically stronger and faster than normal humans. How will you explain that?"

"We'll figure it out." Esme spoke up, "We always do."

That didn't satisfy them at all.

"Really?" Caius mocked, "You'll figure it out? Are you even planning on turning her when she's older? And don't give us the inadequate excuse that it's her choice! How do we know you're not lying to us? What stops us from killing that human right here, right now?!"

The following things happened too fast.

As Caius spoke these threats, a growl broke loose from behind him and he was just in time to dodge Demetri's attack. The tracker changed his target shortly afterwards and this time headed straight for Grace. Renesmee was too slow to step out of the way and he grabbed hold of her arms, digging his nails in her flesh. Grace started crying when Renesmee yelled out in pain and the memories stopped. In a blink of an eye, Emmett had Demetri in a choke-hold and roughly yanked him back, smashing his head into the floor. Felix didn't think twice when seeing his best friend down and tackled Emmett to the ground. Edward was about to help but crumpled to the floor as Jane's wave of pain washed over him. Sam, Paul and Jared broke through the glass door to help, but Alec's dark mist swirled around them and they fell to the floor, paralyzed. By now Demetri was back on his feet and tried getting to Grace a second time, but his plans were foiled as he was pulled back by Jasper, Rosalie and Alice, who managed to keep him down.

"Aro, stop this."

The whole room went instantly silent as Marcus spoke for the first time. All attention was on him as he kept looking at little Grace.

"I sense a bond here," he muttered and lifted Demetri's chin up with his index finger, locking eyes with him.

Demetri's eyes were pitch black as he glanced from Marcus to Grace, like an animal to its prey. Aro seemed to notice it too and ordered the fight to end. Without asking permission, he took Demetri's hand to read his thoughts.

With every passing second his eyes seemed to grow wider and wider until he finally let go, "La tua cantante... Impossible. She's but an infant."

He nodded to Felix who took firm hold of Demetri, relieving Jasper, Alice and Rose from their task. The tracker thrashed in the bigger vampire's grip, desperately trying to break free. He couldn't control his sudden thirst for the child's blood. It overpowered every scent he ever sensed and made his craving grow by each passing second. The rest of the two covens were left looking from Grace to Demetri, not expecting something like this to ever happen.

"Personally I don't believe in miracles, my dear Cullens." Aro grinned and rubbed his hands together, "But I think you may have witnessed one unfolding before you tonight.”