I stood on the edge of the cliff, looking down, contemplating the crashing water below me. Cliff diving – a convenient way to hear Edward's voice again. I stood mesmerized on the edge, staring down at the seething water, waiting for the voice, the strong wind whipping my hair around my head. All I had to do was take one step. One step, and I be off the cliff. I would be in the water. Perhaps oblivion would await me there. A way out of all my pain. At the very least, I would hear his voice again. I would…
A strong hand jerked me back.
"Bella! What do you think you're doing?!" Jacob's voice demanded harshly.
I blinked, like one coming out of a dream.
"Jacob?" I asked.
"You were right on the edge of the cliff, Bella. What did you think you were going to do?"
I looked up at his face.
"Cliff diving," I said simply.
"Well yeah, but I didn't think you were going to start without me. You still wanna go?"
I glanced down at the water. Now that I was really looking at it, it looked much more rough than it had seemed only a few minutes ago. The cliff seemed higher, the rocks below it sharper, the sky darker. I shook my head.
"No, I don't think so. Not today."
Jacob seemed relieved.
"Ok. Let's go back to my house," he said.
----
The alarm jarred me out of my sleep. I groaned, and rolled over.
"Shut it off," I mumbled.
Beside me, a figure stirred.
"Mmmhmm," it muttered sleepily, before the alarm was shut off. Large arms stretched out to embrace me.
"Don't wanna get up," I complained.
Jacob's laughter was a low rumble.
"You were the one who said they wanted to come to the office with me, remember?"
I made a face.
"I think I was having a momentary lapse in judgment," I responded. I cuddled into Jake's chest for a few seconds longer, and then threw the light blanket off. It was chilly outside, but sleeping beside Jacob meant that we didn't need many blankets. His freakish body heat was enough.
"Yeah, I think you were," Jake answered, getting up out of the bed and rubbing a hand through his hair. I giggled as it stood up at all angles. "Right, shower."
"I'll start breakfast," I said, already going through my drawer for something to wear. Jake's arms wrapped around my middle, and he kissed the back of my neck.
"I knew there was a reason I love you," he said, his rough voice in my ear making me shiver.
"You just go have that shower before I decide to join you," I answered.
"I wouldn't mind that either," he replied.
I laughed and shoved him away.
"At this rate we'll never get up. Go!"
He obeyed, leaving me to find something to wear. Since I didn't have to go to work today, I threw on jeans and a sweater over a lacy tank top, and brushed my hair. By the time I was finished making the bed, Jake was out of the shower and I could brush my teeth.
Breakfast with a werewolf was always a production, but I didn't mind. It was nice to have someone who appreciated my cooking. Really appreciated it, as the case was. Today I made pancakes and bacon, with an assortment of fruit on the side. Jake ate enthusiastically before offering to wash the dishes. I leaned back against the table to watch him.
As impossible as it had seemed when I was seventeen, I was happy now. I had a life and family and a pretty little house in La Push with Jake. Charlie lived close by, and we even got to visit Rene and Phil and my little brother Tom in Florida once in a while.
I hummed to myself as I brought more dishes to the counter for Jake to wash, and then sat down. I tired more easily now. My hand automatically drifted to my middle, and I smiled. I wasn't showing yet, but it wouldn't be long now. I remembered the look of pure joy on Jacob's face when I had told him that was pregnant. Slipped out was more the case, and he more than half guessed. Something about werewolves being able to smell these things. He was so exited that he had picked me up off the ground and spun me around in a circle, laughing and dancing with me while the crisp leaves of early autumn crunched underfoot. The people around us in the Seattle park had actually started clapping, much to my embarrassment.
I couldn't remember feeling so happy in a long time. Not since… but I still didn't think his name if I didn't have to. It was still painful, and I avoided the subject at all costs. Besides, my life was here now, with Jake, with our tiny house, with the new baby that would be coming in the spring.
Jake finished up, and wiped his hand on a dishcloth, smiling.
"Ready to go, Bells?" he asked.
I nodded, and grabbed my book bag. I had the day off from my kindergarten class, and I was going to spend it doing lesson plans at Jake's garage. I still loved to watch him work. It felt like old times in his makeshift garage where he had fixed motorcycles and I had watched.
"Embry and Quil working today?" I asked, putting my coat on while Jake dutifully held my bag.
"Embry is," Jacob said, shouldering my bag without a second thought. "Quil's got Claire duty since there's no school today. He said he would be over with lunch later."
I nodded. The same reason I didn't have to go to work today meant that the eight year old Claire, Quil's imprint, didn't have to either and Sandra, her mom, needed someone to take care of her. Not that Quil minded. When he wasn't working or on patrol, he was with Claire. It wasn't weird any more. I had to hand it to Quil – he was the best big brother a girl could ask for. When he had imprinted on Claire Hudson, Emily's two year old niece, I had been more than a little weirded out; everybody had been. But Quil was so good with her than nobody could complain. She was a pretty, sweet, lively little thing, and Quil worshipped her.
I grabbed my purse, and followed Jake out the door, locking it behind me. Jake climbed into the driver's seat of our pickup, and I moved to the passenger side without any comment. He didn't start the engine until I had buckled my seatbelt. Something I did comment on.
"You're doing it again," I said.
"Doing what?" Jake asked innocently.
I rolled my eyes.
"Honestly, Jake, you can start driving before I do up my seatbelt. I'm going to get around to it in the next five seconds anyways."
Jacob started the engine and pulled out of our driveway.
"I'm not taking any chances," he said. "Not with the luck you have."
I made a face, but an amused smile crept on my face in spite of myself. Jacob had been being absurdly protective ever since he found out about the baby. On one level, it was kind of sweet; on another it was very annoying. It was nice to feel protected, and taken care of, but sometimes he was a little bit smothering. At least he let me drive myself to work now instead of ferrying me around and not wanting to let me out of his sight. He hadn't been as bad as that since Victoria was after me. I usually took his VW Rabbit to work, which was still running after all this time. My truck, on the other hand, was now a rusting red monument to classic Ford design on our driveway. Jacob kept insisting that he could fix it, but I knew that it was basically beyond repair. He just liked to have it around for old times' sake.
"Whatcha gonna do today, Bella?" Jacob asked me, breaking the comfortable silence.
"I was thinking of setting out my lesson plans for the next couple of weeks," I answered. "And then maybe thinking of a new organization system for book bags."
"You're one strict teacher," Jacob teased. "Making them read in kindergarten and all that. Isn't kindergarten supposed to be about playing the sandbox and stealing other kids' toys?"
I laughed.
"Maybe that's what they let you get away with, but I'm all about teaching them to become mini Shakespeares before first grade," I responded.
"Singlehandedly bringing up the academic standards of La Push Elementary School, are ya?" Jake asked, turning the corner that lead into Forks.
"Something like that," I said, smiling.
Jacob's garage was in Forks, the better to attract customers. The building had, until recently, been the old fire hall and Jake had bought it when they built the new one. he said it was because the building was large and big enough to hold several cars at once, as well as three fully grown werewolves. I privately thought it was so he could slide down the fireman's pole any time he wanted. All three giant Quileute men loved to slide down that thing as often as they could. It reinforced my idea that really, they hadn't grown up at all. They were just big boys.
I looked out the window, watching the old red brick building come into sight. It was a big building, and had been more expensive than we could afford. Jacob put all our money into it, as well as all of Embry's and Quil's, and we had got a loan from the bank. Charlie had practically donated his life savings to it, although he had gone through Jacob instead of through me. I wouldn't have let him do it. Thankfully, though, my favorite mechanic really was the best at what he did. The garage was getting clients from as far away as Seattle, and its fame as the place where they could and would fix anything for a reasonable price was spreading. What with my teaching salary, and a steady flow of customers coming in, we were slowly paying our debts back.
Jake pulled into the driveway with a grin. He loved this place. Sometimes more than home, I though. He cut the engine and hopped out of the truck, hurrying around to my side to open my door.
"I know you can do it yourself," he preempted me. "But can't a fella treat his girl nice once in a while?"
It was hard to argue with that. I gave him an amused shake of my head, and took his offered hand, shouldering my book bag. Jacob's hand was a hot, comforting ward against the chill of late fall. If there was something I had never gotten used to, it was the cold. No matter how long I lived in Forks, I was still a child of the sun.
Jake stopped for a moment to look up at the sign over the garage entrance.
"Needs new paint," he commented, scrunching up his nose in disgust. The constant rain meant that the signs were always a little worn, and Jake loved to keep his pristine. As it was, the black letters reading Black, Call and Ateara Autobody were hardly scuffed at all. Jake was just vain.
"You always say that," I replied.
"Always needs new paint," he answered.
I rolled my eyes.
Jake just smiled.
"Let me live the dream, Bells," he said.
"Live the dream?" I said with a laugh. "You dream of old fire halls?"
"Old fire halls are everyone's dream," Jake said, his laugher light and golden. "Who doesn't dream of old fire halls?"
"Me," I said. "I dream of getting out of the rain."
Jacob frowned, as if just remembering that it was drizzling out, and I might not want to stand around and catch a cold. He gave a little shake of his shaggy head, and then we walked together into the garage.
Author's note: I know this doesn't seem like it's going anywhere, but I promise you it is… eventually. There's going to be a plot somewhere in all of this. :-P
I'm sorry to all those people who don't like Jacob and Bella together, but I think they fit better.. Jacob says it himself – Edward is like her drug, but he would have been like her sunshine. I think that truly Jacob and Bella were meant to be soul mates, if it hadn't been for Edward's unnatural interruption of that. You can argue with me if you want (as long as it's intelligent arguing and not name calling) but I probably won't change my mind.