Eternal Flame

Dad looked like he just couldn't find the words to describe what he wanted to say.

Mom appeared at his shoulder, "Jacob, I think it would be best if you went home for now, but I'm sure Edward and I will be talking to you very soon," she said in a warning voice.

Jake had a stubborn look on his face, "no, I think I should be here."

"Jake…," I said slowly, "now might not be the best time to pick a fight."

And that's when Dad found his voice. "Renesmee Carlie Cullen! Go to your room and change out of that ridiculous outfit immediately! And you had best make yourself comfortable there, because you won't be leaving that room for quite some time!"

I jumped slightly and quickly mumbled, "Yes, Daddy."

I turned to leave as I practically shoved Jake out the door. I wanted to get him far away from here or else this whole situation would be much worse.

"Go home, Jake," I started to say.

Jake was shaking his head before I had the first syllable out. "No, Nessie. I should be here. You know, help you explain."

I was running toward the cottage and Jake was running beside me. I knew Dad could still hear Jake's thoughts and would know that he was still with me. Which would probably just make him even madder. "Jake, please?" I pleaded. "Please, go. You are just going to make it worse. Dad has always been a little sensitive about you, but I'm his sweet little angel. Let me handle this, okay?"

Jake hesitated, thinking it over. "Fine, Nessie, but I'm coming back tomorrow."

"Fine, Jake, fine. Just go now. Don't worry I'll calm them down," I assured him. He gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and ran off towards La Push.

I changed my clothes as fast as possible. If Dad got here and I was still in that…well, to say the least, things would not be good. I put on sweatpants and a T-shirt. What's more innocent than that? And then I sat on my bed waiting. I sat with my legs crossed and my hands in my lap. I turned my head down, so that I was watching my hands.

It was more than obvious when Dad got home, because he opened the door with so much force that it hit the wall and, by the sound of it, splintered into about a million pieces.

"EDWARD!" I heard my mother yell, "calm down. No need to break the house."

He only growled in response. I flinched. This was going to be bad. Real bad. My dad look peaved.

"Renesmee," he said, his voice like ice.

"Yes, daddy?" I said in almost a whisper.

"Where is that ridiculous outfit?" He demanded.

I pointed to the pile on the floor where the clothes in question lay. Next thing I knew, Dad had ripped them into fifty pieces and had thrown the pieces into my trash can. I realized just how angry he was when he pulled out a match and dropped it on top of them. His eyes softened a tad, but not much as he watched them burn.

"I think it's time we looked through Renesmee's closet," his voice was still hard, but no longer icy.

He threw open my closet and began sifting through my many clothes. Anything that didn't meet his approval was tossed into the flames. He had only thrown two other articles of clothing to be burned when Alice burst into the room.

"What do you think your doing!" she screamed, looking horrified.

Dad's voice became icy again when he spoke to Alice, "Alice, just the person I wanted to see. What were you thinking when you bought her those clothes?"

Alice rolled her eyes, "relax, Edward. She can wear what she wants. She's seventeen. She's immortal. You gonna bug her about what she wears for the rest of... well the rest of forever?"

Dad's eyes turned almost black and he growled, "She's three."

"Who's talking technically?" Alice was getting exasperated, "if we're talking technically, then you, Bella, and me well we're dead but yet, we move and drink. Technically, Nessie is three and yet, she's seventeen."

"Technically, I'm still her father! And I say she's not wearing this!" Roared dad.

Alice shook her head and came to stand by my mom and me while we all watched Dad throw more and more clothes into the bin. I think he reduced my clothes by half.

When he was finished he took some deep breaths and his eyes returned to a golden color.

"Well? Are you happy now?" Alice said with anger, "you've gone and destroyed designer clothing from all over the world! A lot of that was one of a kind!"

"Alice," he said slowly, "I wouldn't push me right now. Now if you'll excuse us, Bella and I need to speak with our daughter."

Alice opened her mouth to object, but he cut her off.

"Alone," he added.

Alice paused, her eyes glazed over as she looked for my father's future, "ok," she said, "you won't hurt her."

"Of course not!" My mum and dad echoed.

"Well, I was just checking. I mean, you were angry enough to destroy her clothes."

Alice was shaking her head as she walked out of my room. Dad waited until he heard Alice leave the house before moving. He walked over to the window so that he was facing out away from us and his hand moved to cover his eyes.

"Dad?" I said "daddy, I'm sorry. That outfit was stupid. Really stupid. I just wanted Jake to. Well, it was stupid. I didn't need showy clothing to get Jake's attention. I just didn't realize that..... I'm really sorry."

He didn't move. In my head I reviewed what I had said. What else did he want to hear me say? Oh yeah, I added, "I won't do it again."

I heard him sigh and he moved away from the window to come kneel beside the edge of my bed so that he was looking me straight in the eye. "Okay, Nessie. I forgive you. But I had put my faith in you and you took advantage of that. So, I'm going to have to ground you. One month."

His voice and eyes were serious, but he had called me Nessie instead of Renesmee, so I knew that the worst was over.

I nodded, but I heard my Mom say in a soft voice, "Edward…"

"Alright," he said. "Two weeks. Make sure to thank your mother, Nessie. She's got better control over her temper."

I nodded. But there was still something they hadn't said anything about. Dad, who must have been listening in to my thoughts said, "You mean, you and Jacob dating?"

I nodded. My dad sighed. "We knew it was going to happen some day." He was saying I could go out with Jake! But he certainly said it grudgingly. "But," he added, "until you stop growing, we, as your parents, are still in charge of you and you will have curfews."

I hugged them both and said, "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

I had gotten off easy. Unfortunately, my clothes hadn't, but I could live with that. But being stuck in this cottage for two weeks? I wasn't so sure I would survive that.