A/N: So. This. Yeah.
I was reading something last night that was talking about how horrible it was that Jacob imprinted on Nessie (I don't know why I read those things. I didn't mean to. I thought it was something different), and of course I got upset. It talked about how Ness has a choice and she can decide to break Jacob's heart and if she did Jacob would be crushed. I thought to myself, that's so stupid. The imprint doesn't mean Jacob is bound to love Ness and only Ness for the rest of eternity. It means she's the most important to him. She's his soulmate. Do you really have to love your soulmate romantically? Can't you love someone just as deeply and be a friend? Yes, you can. I know so, because I've felt it before.
So I wrote this. Jacob would not be crushed if Ness chose someone else, so long as she was happy.
Hope you enjoy!
Oh, this hasn't been pre-read or beta'd in any way. It was written in fifteen minutes, so there's bound to be a mistake or two. Hopefully they can be overlooked. And I'm aware the title sucks; it was the only thing I could come up with (how incredibly creative of me, no?)
The recognizable characters are not mine. Thanks for reading!
News
"Jacob!" Nessie cried as she got out of the car. I smiled and held out my arms. She ran up to me and threw herself into my embrace. I held her tightly.
My Ness had grown up so magnificently. There was no doubt she was the most beautiful half vampire that had ever existed. She was taller than her mother by a few inches, lean and athletic, smarter than anyone had imagined, and an all-around good person. She cared about those around her whether they were strangers, humans, weak, strong; it didn't matter. She donated her time to help shelters and feed the poor and hungry. When she wasn't busy doing that, she was doting on her very lucky husband or teaching at the university.
She squeezed me around my waist and pulled back with a huge grin on her face. "Jacob, I have the most amazing news ever!" She bounced on her toes. She just couldn't stay still.
Her enthusiasm spread to me. I was eager to know what had made her so happy. "What is it?" I asked. My hands tightened on her waist. I thought for a moment that it had to be something pretty damn big to get her so worked up, but then I remembered that she'd get this excited over a puppy or seeing one of her struggling students pass an important test. Everything in life made her happy, even the simplest of things. Still, this didn't seem like it was something simple. This was important.
She put her hands on my face and opened her connection. The familiar buzz that accompanied her thoughts was welcoming. I closed my eyes and smiled. In my head I saw Nessie holding a hand, squeezing tightly with anticipation, hope, and a little fear. Anxiety bubbled in my chest as she waited for something. She held up a white stick with two small blue lines on it. The word "pregnant" exploded into her thoughts.
She pulled her hands away and bounced again, clearly eager for my reaction. I smiled brightly and picked her up to spin her around.
"Nessie, that's amazing!" I set her down and kissed her cheek.
She took a deep breath. "I knew you'd be excited for me. Oh, Jacob, I'm scared, though!" She tucked herself into me and squeezed again. "I don't know what to expect, you know? I wish there was a handbook that talked about only-mostly-human babies."
I chuckled and pet her hair. "Everything will be perfect, Ness. Just don't freak out and raise your stress level, because if I know anything at all about a pregnancy, it's that stress can make it a lot worse."
She nodded. "I'm trying."
"When did you find out?"
She looked up at me bashfully. "Last week. I'm sorry I didn't come tell you sooner. Nahuel and I . . . we had to take some time to adjust. He's nervous, too, but he's really happy."
I frowned. "He damn well better be happy. I'll kick his pretty little ass if he's not."
I heard him laugh in the car. I figured he was giving us some time to be relatively alone.
Nessie smiled. "Thank you, Jake. For everything. You're so wonderful." She stood on her toes and kissed my cheek. "I love you so much!"
I hugged her tightly. "I love you too, Ness. I'm happy you're so happy."
I heard the front door open behind me and little footsteps running down the walk.
"Nessie!"
She pulled back from me and braced herself for my seven-year-old son, Billy, to attack her. She picked him up and hugged him tightly.
"All right, you guys," Melanie called. I turned to see her in the doorway holding her pregnant stomach. This was child number three. Child number two, Katie, was spending time with my father today.
Melanie was the second female shifter in the history of shifters. Although Leah had never imprinted, she'd found love in a bar somewhere in Seattle. She'd stopped shifting a few years ago to grow old with her guy. Melanie had started shifting fifteen years ago. She was shocked, of course, but she fit into the life right away. After Ness officially chose Nahuel, Melanie stepped in and demanded my attention. We were married nine years ago. "Why are we all still out here? Come in and stay a while."
Ness turned around, Billy still in her arms, and gestured for Nahuel to come with us. He got out of the car and walked up to us.
"Hey, Jake, how's it going?"
I patted his back. "Going pretty good."
We went inside and sat around the living room talking about Ness' new pregnancy. Melanie gave her all kinds of advice. I loved that my imprint and my wife were friends. In the beginning, everyone who knew what we were asked me if it was weird or hard watching Ness with Nahuel. The answer was always no. She was happy, and that was all that mattered. After Melanie and I got serious, they asked me again if it was weird being with a woman that wasn't my imprint. Again, my answer was no. Ness might be my imprint, but she didn't need me to love her like that. She was happy with Nahuel, so all was right with the world.
It did take me a while to learn to love Melanie and ask her to marry me, but I did truly love her. She knew me inside and out, and she trusted me to stay faithful to her even though I had an imprint.
It might seem weird to anyone on the outside, but none of us cared about that. We were happy, and that was all that mattered.