Chapter 1
Prologue:
If I had been told on my wedding day that 20 years later it would all fall apart, I never would have believed it.
I met Jacob when I was seventeen years old. It was love at first sight. He was twenty-one, tall, dark, and handsome, and the sex was great. We fell hard and fast. Three months later I was pregnant with our first child and a month later on my eighteenth birthday we were married.
I graduated high school, but waited until spring semester to start college since our daughter was due at the end of September. Two weeks past my due date on October 7th I gave birth to Hayley Rae Black, she was born at home at 5:30 that evening. We couldn't have been happier.
I started college at Port Angeles College the January following Hayley's birth. I was going to be a nurse. Jacob wasn't exactly excited about me wanting to go to school, but he supported me none the less. He wanted me to stay home to raise our children. I on the other hand wanted to move out of his dad's house and have a life of our own. We had compromised that I would go to school, but not work until I finished my bachelor's degree. Hayley would be starting school about that time. Jacob was a mechanic at the only shop on the reservation and since we didn't have any bills and I was going to school on financial aid and scholarships, his income was enough to take care of Hayley.
5 years later
As I walked across the stage to receive my diploma for my B.S.N. I couldn't be more excited. Things had been rough, but I made it. I had five miscarriages over the last five years, so Hayley was still our only child and Jacob and I were drifting because of it. I had hoped that now that I was done with school and Hayley would be starting Kindergarten in the fall, that we could spend more time together. We still lived on the res with Billy, but as he told me years ago, he was wants to help us achieve our dreams, and saving money was the only way to do that.
Jacob and Hayley found me after the ceremony and we went to First Beach for my graduation party. It was starting to get late and Jacob told me he was going to take Hayley home and put her to bed. That I should stay and enjoy my party. Jake was my ride to the party, so I had to find his cousin Sam for a ride home when the party ended. I knew Billy wasn't going to be home for awhile since he was hanging out with some friends. So when I heard a voice other than Jacob's I was shocked. I went to our bedroom where I heard the voice come from. I was heartbroken when I saw Jake's ex Leah, pregnant and laying in my bed with my husband. I was absolutely devastated. Before I could process anything else I grabbed Hayley from her bed and ran next door to Sam and Emily's house.
I found out the next morning when Jake came to find me, that Leah's boyfriend had left her and Rachel, Jacob's sister, told her to come stay at the house until she was back on her feet. Rachel and I never liked each other and she hated that he and I were together and would do everything she could to split us up. Leah had moved away from the res after her and Jake graduated high school. She broke up with him to figure out what she wanted in life. While, Leah never spoke to Jacob again until last night, she and Rachel still spoke almost everyday. Rachel never told Leah that Jacob was married with a child. Leah had been sleeping in Rachel's room and went to Jacob's room when she heard the door shut and climbed in bed with him. The conversation I heard between the two of them was him telling her that he was happily married and he's sorry Rachel would deceive her like that after all she had been through.
Three months later we were moving into a small house we found in Forks. Saving our money over the last five years had paid off. We were able to put a down payment on a three bedroom two story house twenty minutes from the res and with me now working and Jacob's income we could afford the mortgage. It was shortly after moving that we found out that I was pregnant with our second daughter. On April 26th Devon Tatum Black was born at home. Things between us were good again and I was starting my graduate studies for my D.N.P. In the fall. I had discovered that I loved being a psych nurse and wanted to go further and work as a psychiatrist.
Two years later on July 26th our last child and only son was born at home. Maddox Evan Black, his father's pride and joy. Our family was now complete. Life was great, Jacob opened his own shop the year prior and was doing exceptionally well. I was halfway through my doctorate and our children were happy. I couldn't ask for a better life, but change was on the horizon and I was grossly unprepared.