Postlude - Nessie's POV

I stared at it in disbelief before Jay knocked on the door and demanded to know what was taking me so long. "Nothing!" I squeaked, stuffing it down the toilet and flushing with fingers crossed that it would go down. It did, though the sound that echoed from the porcelain bowl once the deed was done suggested nothing else would.

My brother's face was wrinkled in an unfamiliar frown once I emerged. "Thanks for wasting my time with a whole lot of 'nothing'."

He shoved past me, ignoring my hanging jaw, and slammed the door shut. What the hell was that about? Ever since he'd come back from Chelsea's last night, Jay had been in a foul mood. Did they have a fight or something? Not that that would be the worst thing in the world, considering how he didn't love her and all.

Like you're one to talk, my twin shot back, and I finally realized I had yet to move from my spot. He must have wondered what I was still doing outside the bathroom and snuck a peek to find out. Still, that pissed me off.

Stay outta my head! Snarling aloud, I put up a shield between us and stormed off. My parents looked up as I passed through the sitting room to ask in sync, "What's wrong?"

"Ask EJ." It was my turn to slam a door as I exited the cottage, breathing in the smell of fresh air to keep from screaming before deciding I needed a nice run. By my next breath, I was miles away, feet a pounding blur (well, not really for my eyes) beneath me as I headed away from my infuriating little brother and my clueless parents and that damn flushed -

A familiar scent caught my nose, and I realized how close I was to the border between our land and the Quileutes. Of course these days the border was little more than a formality that few adhered to...save for the one who no longer had a choice in the matter. The one who was staring at me as he shifted forms so that he could say my name. "Renesmee."

"Jacob," I replied stiffly as he put on his shorts, not allowing my gaze to trail downwards while he did so. "What are you doing here?"

It was a stupid question, and I regretted uttering it the instant it came out of my mouth. Those chocolate brown eyes hardened infinitesimally as he replied in a deceptively uncaring tone, "I'm still on pack land, and this is my patrol shift. The better question is what are you doing so close to the border when you run the risk of being forced to encounter me?"

There it was, in the slightest undertone, the pain that I'd been so desperately trying to avoid causing. Get real, Nessie, I scolded myself. The pain you knew you caused that you've been trying to avoid seeing.

The wind blew, pushing back my hair and bringing me his scent: musky and earthy and warm, a scent that somehow reminded me of home. "Jake, I - "

"Why, Ness?" Jacob took a step forwards but forced himself to stop, seeing as how the border was only a few inches before him. He gazed longingly across the stretch of space between us to where I stood several yards away. "Just tell me why. Please."

I crossed my bare arms as goosebumps rose along my skin: not from the wind, that was already dying down, but rather from the secret I could not share. "It - it's better this way, Jacob."

His sharp ears did not miss how my voice cracked on his name. "I'll only believe that if you're really happy, Ness. Tell me that you're happy with banning me from the Cullen's land. Tell me that you're happier with that boy than with me. Look me in the eye and tell me, and I'll believe it."

"I - "

"Right in the eye."

Squaring my shoulders, I stiffly marched until I stood only a foot away, the border between us, and glanced up. The chorus of emotions that met my eyes - longing, despair, hope, fear, desire, and that all consuming one I refused to name - made the words halt in my throat. Triumph joined in, and Jacob reached out a hand to grab one of my windblown ringlets. The knot inside my throat welled up even further as he raised the bronze strands to his nose, breathing in my scent as if it was the sweetest perfume.

"Nessie, I'm sorry about that day. I don't know what came over me, and I should have recognized that no matter how old you may look and act, you're still so young. I'm sorry if what happened between us made you too uncomfortable to be around me, but I swear to you that I will do everything I can to make it up to you if you just give me the chance. I regret it so much - "

I shook my head rapidly at that, hand unconsciously moving to my stomach. I don't want you to regret it! I wanted to yell at him. I don't regret it; how can I regret it, when we...

A strangled sound welled from Jake, and I opened my eyelids that had squeezed shut to see him staring at my belly with growing alarm, nostrils flaring, and I realized - too late - how the wind had changed direction. Instead of blowing his scent towards me, it blew mine towards him.

"Renesmee." He continued gawking, arm still outstretched though the strands of my hair had since fallen out of his slack grip. "Renesmee, it can't - I smell a-another...another person here."

For just an instant, I was frozen in fear and guilt and horror. But an instant feels like an eternity to a dhampyre, and so it felt as if eons had passed before I found the strength to run away. Jacob didn't even have time to call out before I was gone, bounding over logs and whacking aside branches, desperate to escape the reality that his words had brought. I smell another person here. Another person here. Another person.

Reaching the refuge I sought, I scurried up the tree and knocked on the window pane, trying to control my ragged breathing before he arrived. I'd barely gotten it under control when the window was opening, the bright smile dimming as he saw my face. "Nessie?"

"Manny," I whispered, crawling through and into my boyfriend's arms, returning his embrace as I shuddered uncontrollably. "Manny, I - I - "

"Be still, mi amor," he said soothingly as he sat down on his bed and pulled me onto his lap. "Tell me what's wrong."

His gentle probing and the way he stroked my hair reminded me too much of what had just occurred, so I pulled away to look into another pair of equally warm brown eyes to confess my terrible secret. "I'm pregnant."

Manny stared back for a moment before his brain finally registered what I had just told him. "Wait...what? What?!"

It was my turn to shush him; the last thing I needed was his grandparents walking in on this conversation. "I'm pregnant, Manny."

"Dios mio," he muttered, running a hand through his curly hair and rumpling it further. It took him a few seconds to realize I was still there. Taking my face in his hands, he looked me in the eye as he swore, "I will be there for you and our baby. I won't run away from this - or from you, alright? So don't be scared, Renesmee."

He hugged me, and that's when the tears came. I buried my face into his narrow shoulder, unable to keep from comparing it to the broader ones I was accustomed to, and stated internally the words I wished I had the courage and strength to utter aloud:

But you don't know that I'm a dhampyre...I don't know if this is our baby.

~~~~~

That's the end, and what an ending it is! Has EJ really moved on from Ciel, and will she even let him? Who is Nessie's baby daddy: Manny or Jacob? And with Demetri dead, are the Volturi really out of the picture? Well, all those questions and more will be answered in the sequel, North Star! It won't be out for a while, but a short synopsis will be posted as soon as I've written it out. And if you prove to be a REALLY enthusiastic fan of Sunset, you may even be on the very exclusive list of the Wattpaders who get to take a sneak peek at what I have stored! But for now, the tale has ended. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for news on the sequel! (:)

Edit (11/23/16): Sorry for the semi-late notice, but I privately posted a sneak peek of the sequel North Star! You have to follow me in order to read it, but the full novel will be posted for public consumption as soon as I start working on it. <3

Edit (4/15/18): It's been a while, but I'm finally getting to work on the sequel, and the preview's been made available to the public! Check it out and stay tuned.

- Nikkisha16