Chapter 1

I paced back and forth across the patch of forest I was standing in, "Momma? I cold!" Ari whined from next to me.

I sent her a slightly annoyed look, then immediately felt guilty as she shied away from me, "I'm sorry, honey, we're going to go inside soon," I said scooping her up in my arms and she immediately buried her face in my neck shivering and she was indeed cold despite the jacket, sweater, two layer pants, scarf, and hat, I had dressed her in.

"Now," she whined.

I sighed taking a deep breath, truth was, we had nowhere to go inside, the closest place we had was a hotel room in Seattle which had yet to be booked, I was praying this would be easier than I knew it would. God, help me now. Basically, Ari, short for Ariella, was my niece. Her mother, my younger sister, had come to La Push, Washington for her senior trip with her friends. Why they chose here, I had no idea… Being her young and stupid self met a guy named Paul, he was a bit of player showed interest and being the insecure girl she was….slept with him, even using a condom and birth control she got pregnant, Paul's sperm must have been superhuman or something, but whatever.

My family was furious with her, she had been accepted to college and was going to have to give it up and stay home which was her ultimate nightmare. My sister had always been young and a bit naïve, and also known to be extremely selfish. I had barely finished from nursing school when Ari was two months old, one night I heard a knock on my door in the middle of the night. I opened it to find Ari wrapped in a blanket with a note on top of her as she cried, it was then I noticed my sister's car driving off.

The note read:

Dear Jazz,

Please don't hate me. I just can't do it anymore. I can't live with mom and dad. I can't stand hearing every single day how much of a disappointment I am, and how they wish I would be more like you. In some ways I hate you for being so damn perfect all the time. I know I am not set to be a mother now, I am going to ruin Ari's life if I keep her, yet I couldn't bear putting her up for adoption. I think I just need some space for a while. Would you watch her for me? I know that is a lot to ask of you, but you are her godmother and the only person in the world I could ever entrust my child with. I couldn't leave her with mom and dad, she'd end up just like us, with a perfection complex and never allowed to fulfill her own dreams. I love you, and I hope I have the strength to come back someday. Don't try and call, I have destroyed my phone, and changed out my license plate. I really appreciate this Jazz, I love you.

Lindy

Not even a month after I received Ari and the letter, my parents and I received a phone call that Lindy had been in a fatal car accident. My parents went ballistic, saying she deserved it for deserting her child and ruining my life as well because unlike her I wasn't selfish. Lindy may have been naïve but she certainly wasn't dumb, she made sure that I was the one who would have custody over her child if anything happened to her.

In some ways, I resented Lindy for putting that type of pressure on me. I wasn't the type of person to abandon my niece nor was I the type to ignore my sister's death wish, so I took on the role as Ari's mother at 22, I had a nursing degree, and was in the midst of getting my practioner license online. Since then, it has been three years since Lindy's death. By choosing to give up my life to raise her child, I had to make some difficult sacrifices.

My boyfriend throughout college cheated on me shortly after Lindy's death as I had spent most of my time with newborn Ari, and hadn't wanted to just dump me because he had no interest in raising someone else's child, and to think we were engaged to married in four months.

I had gotten use to the idea of being alone for the rest of my life, at this point in my life. I didn't need anyone's help. I was Jazzylyn, genius, perfect daughter, and single mother of her niece. Quite the resume I had to say so myself.

I recently decided that I should reveal to the man who destroyed my family, my sister, and my life that he had a daughter. I had no idea if he would take any responsibility, but I knew he at least deserved the right to know she existed, despite how much I hated him for what he had done, so I had done some research, which is how I ended up in La Push, Washington with Ari pacing in the forest next to Paul Lahote's house after parking down the street from his home.

I sighed taking a deep breath before smoothing Ari's hair one last time, it was now or never. I picked up my purse threw it over my shoulder and walked toward the small house before knocking on the door.

"I DON'T WANT WHATEVER YOU'RE SELLING! AND I DON'T ALLOW STRANGERS IN MY HOME!" a guy shouted rudely from behind the door. I frowned thinking of what a great start we were off to.

I continued to knock until the door flew open to reveal a shirtless guy in his boxers and a girl in an oversized t-shirt standing behind him. I gulped Lindy hadn't been lying when she called him attractive. "What the HELL do you want? I'm busy?" he snapped at me.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before looking up at him to meet his eyes which was immediately a mistake, because they were just as green and beautiful as Ari's, and I immediately got lost in them. Shit, us Lansing sisters, definitely had a type.

The guy gulped looking even angrier now, "I SAID WHAT DO YOU WANT!?" he shouted at me which woke up Ari who immediately started to cry.

I sent him the ugliest look I could muster. "Shhh, Ari, honey, don't cry," I whispered in her ear softly fighting the urge to walk off and get back in my car and drive back to Texas.

"Momma, I cold and hungy," she sobbed.

I sucked in a deep breath, before finally speaking to Paul after deciding to lie through my teeth, "My car broke down about a mile back, and we've been walking in the forest, she's freezing cold, and starving, we've been driving for days, if you have a heart at all, would you please let me at least warm her up inside," I asked keeping my voice even.

He growled softly and then the girl touched his arm, "Come on Paulie, let her inside, I love kids!" the girl begged.

"Isn't it time for you to leave, Cindy?" he asked her.

The girl looked like she might cry, "My name is Sarah," she said softly.

"Well, whatever your name is, it's time for you to go," he told her coldly.

She huffed, before turning to me, "My house is about a mile away 2659 Rabbit Lane, if the ass hole won't let you warm your daughter up," she told me sending a glare at Paul as she grabbed her purse and a pair of pants pulling them on.

"My shirt," Paul said coldly.

The look she gave him could kill, she slipped it off and threw it at him her cheeks pink as she pulled her shirt on over her head and ran out of the house in tears humiliated. "I COLD!" Ari screamed once again.

"For God's sake, come inside, so the girl will quit her screaming!" Paul groaned rubbing his head as if it gave him a migraine.

I really shouldn't have come here. I marched right past him into his kitchen and found a bag of chips, Cheetos, Ari's favorite, before sitting on the couch ignoring Paul's remark about paying him for the chips I stole. I opened the bag for Ari, and she immediately stopped crying as she started to eat the Cheetos and I pulled off my own jacket and wrapped her in it.

"How long will this take?" Paul asked rudely.

I frowned at him, and just shook my head, I was regretting all of this, I'm an idiot just like my parents claimed for trying to find Ari's father believing he DESERVED to know about her existence, after meeting him, I knew she'd be better off never knowing him. "You're an ass hole," I informed Paul.

He chuckled, "Is that supposed to be an insult? I mean coming from a teen mother and all?" he asked with a smirk.

I frowned, "I'm 25, thank you," I glared at him.

He did seem a little surprised at that news, "You look like a kid," he retorted.

"I'd rather look like a kid than a steroid using gang member," I informed him.

That seemed to touch a nerve, "Well, you're the one who brought her daughter into a steroid abusing gang member's house!" he said angrily.

"Yeah, because I had so many options," I frowned.

"Well, why didn't you call your husband?" he snapped at me.

"Phone's dead," I lied not wanting to give him the benefit of calling me a whore, even though I was actually a virgin.

Something in Paul seemed to break when I said that, which I didn't understand. "Whatever, hurry up, and that bag of chips was a $1.25 I expect a refund," he told me bitterness in his tone.

I sent him the ugliest look I could muster before digging in my purse and grabbing two dollars and throwing them at him, "Keep the change," I spat.

He didn't seem to like the fact that I actually paid him the money, "I wasn't serious," he replied softly.

I just glared at him, "Could have fooled me," I grumbled glaring at the ceiling when Ari started tugging on my arm.

"Momma, where daddy? You told me we were going see daddy, I want to see daddy," she whined.

Paul legitimately flinched when she asked that for an unknown reason, "We are honey, we just aren't there yet," I told her calmly.

She huffed, "I don't wanna ride no more!" she whined.

I sighed, "Ari…" I whined in the same tone she used, she was my niece after all.

That was when she noticed Paul, "Who you?" she asked jumping out of my lap before I could stop her and rushing over to the large man that was standing in front of us and started pulling on the bottom of his shorts, "You big," she pointed out.

I was a bit shocked when he actually chuckled and picked her up, "My name is Paul, and honey you are just very small," he told her tapping her nose. Crap, he was good with kids.

Ari giggled being her friendly self, "No, you just big," she joked tapping his nose as well.

He shrugged, "Maybe," he told her lightheartedly.

"Did he know momma or daddy, momma?" Ari asked me. Damn, I shouldn't have told her we were in the city her daddy lived in.

Paul looked confused, "Ari!" I warned, but it did nothing because she had taken a liking to her father and turned to him with a big grin, and I just knew she was going to spill the beans.

"Momma, brought me here to see my daddy! I hope he like me! My momma didn't like me, so she ran away, then she died, my paw-paw say she got what she deserve, but momma loves me, and I love her, so its okay, maw-maw says I got the better mommy, but maw-maw and paw-paw don't want me to meet daddy, but momma thinks maybe my daddy will love me too," Ari blabbed away.

Paul was staring at her a bit open mouthed before he looked at me and after one glance at my panicked expression, he knew she was telling the truth, "She's not your daughter?" he asked and of course like always when that question came up my wall went up.

"I raised her therefore she is my daughter," I snapped.

"But she looks like you…." He trailed off.

My eyes shot up to meet his, shocked, no one thought she looked like me, "She's my niece," I whispered.

"Oh," he said softly before turning to Ari who had started to play with Paul's necklace that had a feather and beads on it.

"I'm sorry about your sister," Paul said quietly and I was shocked that he did have a heart after all.

"Thanks," I whispered looking down at my feet before sighing.

"Who is her father, I know everyone that lives here, I can help, I'll also fix up your car, I'm a mechanic, so I'm good with stuff like that," he rambled.

I bit my lip and sighed pulling out her birth certificate from my purse and handing it to him. As if he was a natural with kids he just shrugged her over to his hip, as he opened the file clueless.

He froze the minute he read his name as the father, and his russet skin actually looked a little pale and green, "B-but…I always use…" he trailed off.

Being the blunt person I am, "Apparently your swimmers were strong enough to ignore birth control and a condom according to my sister," I told him.

"You kay?" Ari asked Paul placing a hand on his forehead as if checking if he had a temperature.

"Momma, he warm," she told me worriedly.

Paul was still staring at the file as if he kept reading it the name would disappear. "I-I need to sit down," he whispered and for some reason I felt bad for him. I immediately shook the thoughts out of my head, he had sex with my sister, never called her to check on her, destroyed my family, my life, and was a total ass hole when I met him.

"I can take her," I offered standing up opening my arms for Ari and that was when something must have clicked because he dropped the file in his haste to hug Ari closer to him.

"No," he said quickly.

I put my hands up as if to say I wasn't going to steal her as I sat back down. I watched silently as he stared at her smoothing her hair, and brushing his thumb against her cheek, while Ari reveled in the attention she was after all my sister's daughter.

"She's so beautiful," he said softly and I noticed him quickly wipe a tear from the corner of his eye as if embarrassed of the emotion.

I didn't comment as I let him have his moment with her. Ari quickly became bored with him just stroking her cheek and hair, and just curled into him and lifted up her shirt, "Draw," she commanded and he looked at me questioningly.

I quickly drew on my arm with my nail as an example and he nodded gently drawing on her back. "Momma, can we keep him?" Ari asked contentedly.

I actually chuckled, "Honey, Paul, isn't a pet," I told her.

"But he draw better than you," she said sassily whining a bit.

Paul looked a bit triumphant and even I had to admit it was a bit adorable. "Well, I guess that means I won't have to draw on you anymore, since apparently my skills aren't up to your satisfaction," I teased Ari and she gasped sitting up, and shook her head no wildly.

"NO, MOMMA, you draw good! He just draw great!" she told me adorably.

I chuckled, "Okay, okay, I'll still draw, I guess," I teased her.

She nodded, happily before crawling back into her first position, "Can he go with us to meet daddy?" she asked me.

I froze as did Paul, before he looked at me asking what he needed to do. An inner panic rose in my stomach, sure Paul seemed to like Ari, but that was right this moment, that didn't mean that he wanted to be a key member of her life, and I didn't want him breaking her heart like he broke my sister's, she already thought her mom didn't love her thanks to my dad and mother, despite what I tried to tell her. She was so hopeful that her dad would love her, she kept talking about it the entire ride here, asking me time and time again if her daddy would like her. I was hyperventilating at this point, what had I done?

Paul seemed to take my indecision and panic and turn it into his own decision as he said, "Ari?" he whispered softly and she looked up at him.

What was he doing? No, do not tell her that you're her father, Paul Lahote, I don't know if you are going to stick around yet….no, no, no, this was not the plan, the plan was for you to let me in, Ari to still be asleep as I passed you the folder and then I interrogated him until I knew for sure he'd be a good father.

"Huh?" she questioned adorably.

"I am your daddy," he told her smoothing her hair.

Ari grinned widely, but then her face fell, "Do you like me?" she questioned.

He chuckled and kissed her forehead, "I love you honey," he told her without any doubt in her tone.

"I love you too daddy," Ari squealed hugging him tightly around the neck happily and I saw a few tears fall from Paul's eyes, and in that moment I knew I had made the right decision.