Breaking Dawn Re-Read Along: The Summaries: Week 8

We're almost there - almost done with the read along, and perhaps more importantly, almost to the big day!!  Check out the summaries, comment, and have some fun with us!  Let the countdown begin:  9 days!! 


(Thanks for the summaries, http://www.shmoop.com/breaking-dawn/summary.html )


Chapter 15:

• Jacob meets up with Leah. She, of course, rejects Esme's food and clothes. Jacob eats his share, though, "not because it smelled irresistible away from the vampire burn, but to set a good example of self-sacrificing tolerance for Leah" (15.12).
• Seth meets up with them after sweeping the perimeter. Everything is clear.
• When Jacob decides to tell the Cullens to leave Forks in order to get Bella out of danger, Seth informs him that Bella broke another rib and that she depends on the medical access and blood supply at the Cullen house. She's also taken up contact with Charlie, assuring him that she's on the mend. Jacob is outraged by her lies, because he thinks she's giving Charlie false hopes.
• When Jacob visits Bella at the house, she looks fragile and weak but is happy to see him. Rosalie and Jacob start bickering with each other again. When Edward asks her to bring Jacob some food, she serves it to him in a dog dish.
• Jacob asks Bella if she has a due date for the little monster. She tells them that, according to Carlisle's calculations, she has about four days left. Jacob realizes that he's glad she's not leaving, and that her pull on him has become stronger. "Almost like it was related to her expanding belly" (15.124).
• Bella tells Jacob that only with him being there, her family feels complete. "You're supposed to be part of my life – I can feel that, and so can you" (15.154). Jacob tells her he'd prefer that she didn't care about him at all, because he suffers being around her.
• After Bella falls asleep, Jacob confronts Edward about the lies that Bella has been telling Charlie. Edward explains that she couldn't bear his anxiety about her condition. She hopes that there's a way for her to have a relationship with Charlie after her transformation and banks on Charlie drawing his own, false conclusions about her changed appearance. Jacob thinks they're all insane.
• Edward then reveals to Jacob that the baby might not be the first of its kind, and that he sent Emmett and Jasper to research legends in South America that might help with the situation Bella is in.
• Rosalie, however, points out that, according to the stories, no human females ever survived giving birth, because they lacked the knowledge and the medical and familial support the Cullens have been offering. She believes that they'll be able to deliver the baby safely.
• Rosalie's continued emphasis on the baby's needs infuriates Jacob and he throws his dog dish at her head. The rest of the Cullens appear to be on his side in the matter.
• When Bella wakes up, she's in pain because the baby's stretching. She compares its growth spurt with Jacob's once his werewolf gene was triggered. This causes Edward and Carlisle to discuss the similar genetics between the baby and Jacob, plus the fact that Alice can't see either of them. Jacob tries hard to deny any similarities between the baby and himself.

Chapter 16:

• Jacob, Seth, and Leah patrol the woods. Leah quips about the "bloodsuckers" while Jacob and Seth ignore her. She remarks that Jacob has pulled a "one-eighty" in his feelings toward the Cullens. Jacob replies that she has as well.
• Alone, Leah suddenly thanks Jacob for letting her stay in his pack. He admits that she hasn't been as much of a pain as he first thought. When Leah reveals that she plans on staying with him, though, Jacob is speechless. From afar, Seth communicates telepathically that he wants to stay as well.
• Jacob explains to them that, after this whole affair, he'll go wolf full-time and that he wants them to have a real life.
• Leah agrees with Jacob that Seth needs to go to school in La Push. But her situation is different – she has always planned to leave, and so begs Jacob to let her stay with him. Jacob puts off an answer, saying he has to think about it.
• On their way back, Jacob hears Seth grudgingly accept his responsibility to stay in La Push and take care of his mom. But the idea of being alone with Leah scares him. "I couldn't imagine the… the intimacy of that situation" (16.72). When they come upon a herd of deer, Jacob helps Leah let her natural killing instincts take over.
• Jacob warns Leah that he won't be much fun to be around once Bella is gone. But Leah tells him that his pain will be easier for her to deal with than her own. She says that Bella is his Sam. "She's everything you want and everything you can't have" (16.89). She understands his pain and wants to help him through it, not make it worse.
• Jacob admits to himself that her more objective mind helps him gain perspective on his situation. He loses his temper, though, when she claims to understand Rosalie's outlook as well. "I'm talking about being a genetic dead-end, Jacob" (16.109).
• Jacob calms down, remembering how the male wolves all avoided Leah's "female troubles" after her transformation. She realized that her body didn't follow normal patterns anymore and that she would never be able to get pregnant. Leah fears that it means she's a freak.
• It doesn't help that none of the werewolves has imprinted on her yet. Jacob argues that imprinting is just another way of getting your choices taken away from you. But Leah counters saying that, if he imprinted, he wouldn't feel hurt about Bella anymore. Touché!
• At the Cullen home, Jacob learns that Bella's pelvis may be broken too. Yet, she pulls herself together in Jacob's presence.
• Jacob tells Carlisle that they're now safe to hunt. Carlisle divides up the family, but Rosalie insists that she won't leave Bella alone with Edward. She says she'll hunt when he does. The rest of the family takes off hunting.
• Jacob keeps insulting Rosalie. Bella orders him to quit it.
• When Rosalie leaves to get Bella another cup of blood, Edward suddenly perks up. He asks what she's thinking, and then asks her to speak. He gets up and places his hand over Bella's pregnant belly. He realizes he can hear the baby's thoughts, and he tells Bella that the baby "absolutely adores you."
• Jacob notices that the pain in Edward's eyes is gone. Bella tells Edward that if the baby is a girl, she wants to name her "Renesmee" – a mix of Renée and Esme.
• Witnessing the change of atmosphere and the happy family before him, Jacob realizes he's all alone now. Before connecting with the baby, Edward was his comrade-in-arms, hating the "monster." Now he's a proud father. Jacob feels betrayed.
• Edward sees Jacob's pain and knows he needs to be alone. So he throws him a set of keys and tells him to go.

Thoughts, feelings, ideas?  Leave them in the comments!

Chapters 17-18 (and the end for this part of the re-read) will be up on Sunday this week (I figured I'd give us a little more discussion time before Thursday night's madness!!  Enjoy!