A/N: Just a little side note to get started. Oh, and those of you who are ACTUALLY reading this author's note, I give you my servere thanks. I find myself skipping through these to hurry and get to the "good part". Anyway, my first idea for this story came from none other than my fellow fanfiction writers. I happen to be keeping up with a very well-written story of Jared and Kim, and I realized mid-sentence that I had never really explored ideas of the pack. I'm a Jacob lover, and I always find myself centering myself around him, but I feel like everyone is tired with hearing the same old Jacob/OC stories now that he has finally found his someone. And so, I can't bring myself to pretend that Renesmee doesn't exist in the Twilight world, and have chosen to gone down a different, much less explored path. With that being said, here is my first shot at an Embry Call story. I hope you enjoy it, review often, and keep checking up for updates.
Nothing in this world is more beautiful to me than the laughter of a child.
I could sit exactly where I was, leaning comfortably against one the the faded red columns on Emily and Sam's front porch, for hours and hours and never get tired of watching the baby girl explore the "world" before her; as a four year old, the front yard was her world. The bright, blooming flowers that Emily had planted along the stone walkway completely entranced her, and I laughed as she held one hand over a particularly pretty purple tulip, as if debating whether or not she should pick it. Her pudgy hand hovered undecidedly in space right above the flower, before finally giving in to her wants and snatching the flower out of the ground. She ran, wobbling all the way, toward the front porch where I was perched, squealing all the way.
"Pwetty flowaa! For you!" she exclaimed happily, holding it out to me. I took it from her graciously, honestly very pleased that she had given me the little present. I scooped her off the ground and set her into my lap, where she happily turned toward me and grabbed a strand of hair that had been hanging over my shoulder.
"Thank you, Claire-Bear. You're so sweet." I kissed her on the forehead, making her giggle and tug on my hair. She made no move to climb down from my lap, so I wrapped my arms around her and let her settle herself in, as I knew from weeks of experience that she would do. She sighed blissfully, and I layed my head back against the pole, silently enjoying the rarity of a sunny day in Forks, Washington with a suddenly very sleepy toddler.
A few stolen moments later, a blue chevy that I recognized as Quil Arteara's pulled up in the driveway.
It must be five o'clock already; every day at this exact time without fail, Quil made an appearance at Sam and Emily's. He hopped out of the truck, smiling all the way up the walkway, and waved happily when he spotted me sitting on the edge of the front porch. I waved back and rose, ever so gently as to not wake the peacefully napping child in my arms, to open the door for him.
As we made our way, not speaking, into the house, Quil silently offered out his arms, his eyes locked on Claire's sleeping face. I obliged, of course, and watched after him as he carried her down the short hallway and into the guest room that had recently been renovated for Claire, since she had been spending almost every day at her aunt and uncle's place. The gentle expression he wore as he walked her back was unmistakable. I had only known Quil for a few weeks, but his face always lit up when he was around Claire. It was actually very sweet; I had never met a teenage boy that loved children this much. He even spent his precious free time here, playing countless games with her for hours, when he should really be out doing whatever normal things sixteen year old boys do. Maybe smashing windows and playing xbox, for example.
Quil emerged from the room a few minutes later, pulling the door to without the slightest sound, and walked right over and plopped down on the couch.
"She's taking her nap early today, huh?" he asked as he grabbed two of the hand-sewn throw pillows and shoved them behind his back.
"Yeah," I answered him, turning to pick up the few toys that were scattered across the livingroom floor. "She's been playing outside since it stopped raining around noon. Poor kid is completly wiped out."
He nodded, knowing from experience that Claire used up every ounce of energy in her little four year old body until she all but fell asleep standing.
"You know, it means a lot to Emily and Claire's mom that you come watch her every day. They'd be stuck without you."
"Oh, it's really no problem at all." I waved away his thanks with a flutter of my free hand. "It's not like I know anyone around here anyway."
It was completely true though, not just me being modest. Although I had lived here almost two months now, I was finding it very hard to meet anyone I could possibly have any form of friendship with. Forks was a small enough town, just like back home, and it was difficult to infiltrate preexisting friendships that had been built over lifetimes. Having lived in the same pin-sized town in Georgia for my entire sixteen years of life, I knew this all too well. Being the new girl was hard, especially in the middle of summer, which is why I was so thankful that I had met Emily when I had, and that she had offered me a way to spend my days.
And turns out, I really did love watching little Claire, and the company Quil brought me with it.
"I was actually going to talk to you about that." Quil said, with an excited gleam in his eye.
I turned and walked the few feet into the kitchen, where I could fill up a vase with water so I could preserve my tulip for a little longer. It was just too pretty to go to waste, and I was sure Emily wouldn't mind having the new addition to her kitchen table for a while.
"About how being new sucks?" I called over my shoulder jokingly.
Quil laughed easily. "Well, not exactly. But we can discuss your sad, lonely life if you want." he teased. I laughed and rolled my eyes at the jab.
"Well while we're at it, we may want to go over your steriod use." I had walked back into the livingroom, and poked him playfully in the stomach. I took a second to realize that it had actually hurt a little to jab my finger into his ridiculously formed abs. He didn't notice, of course, and stretched himself so that he was lounging completely across the couch. His hulking form almost looked like it would crush the poor sofa if he moved in the slightest, even with half his body hanging off the edge.
"Ha ha. Very original," he rolled his eyes as I had a moment before, and grinned at me. "You'll have to make up some better comebacks if you want me to save your social life."
"Yes sir, Superman." I answered with a sly smile. "And my social life isn't in need of a rescue. Just a jumpstart maybe."
"Your social life is holding onto the top edge of the Empire State building with two fingers, and slipping."
"Hey now," I laughed goodnaturedly.
"It's basically a suicide mission," he continued jokingly. "But I've decided that I'll lend a helping hand."
"Well aren't you just my knight in shining armor." I made a face at him so he knew I was being sarcastic. "What did you have in mind?"
Quil sat up, suddenly very animated. "Tomorrow night we're having a huge bonfire out on First Beach for the Fourth of July. You know, fireworks and food and all that. And I know how you so desperatly need a social outing, so I'm offically inviting you to join us."
I chewed on my lip, torn. It was in my nature to jump at the chance for anything that sounded as fun as this, and especially at the chance to finally get introduced to people my own age. I was a true social butterfly, but only when I was within my element. Being around a group of people I had never even seen before in my life sounded like a horror movie to me; as much as I loved people, I was overwhelmingly shy around strangers if they outnumbered the people I knew. I could see myself standing on the outskirts on the party, unsure and dreading the entire thing. And that did not exactly seem appealing to me.
"It's terribly sweet of you to invite me, but I don't know..." I trailed off, not bothering to finish my thought. I was still weighing the options, playing scenerios in my head.
"Come on, it'll be fun! I'll be there, and so will Claire and Sam and Emily. We'll make sure you're not alone, and everyone is really great. You'll love it." he urged. I could tell he was sincere, that he wouldn't leave me stranded in a crowd of strangers, and that made me feel a little better.
"Well..." I was still unsure, but the societal girl in me was taking over.
"Allie, you're coming if I have to forcefully remove you from your house." Quil threatened. He was obviously joking, but for some reason I felt he would take action on this if he needed to. And personally, I wouldn't want an enormous guy break into my house and kidnap me, even to bring me to a party.
"Fine! I'll come." I half-heartedly agreed, afraid that I would regret it. "But there had better be fireworks."
What I didn't know at that moment, was that there would be fireworks. Oh man, would there be fireworks.