A/N: I, like the majority of people I believe, have a difficult time with Quil and Jacob's imprints. They're hard to accept, and figuring out how to portray them in my Leah stories (even though they're such a small part of them) has been difficult for me. This one-shot came out of that really. It's my imagining of Quil having to tell Claire's parents that he imprinted on their daughter. This was originally written as a way for me to try and create some background information for myself for my other Twilight stories, and for a while, I had no intentions of posting it. But here it is. This can work as a prequel of sorts to my other Twilight stories, but it doesn't have to be. Nothing about either one of them relies on the other, but in my own head, this is what happened before the events of the other stories. In the end, I can't say it helped me have some epiphany about Quil's imprint. I'm really just as lost about how to deal with it in my stories as I was before except this exists now. And that makes this story feel like a failure in a way, but it's also made it more obvious that I'm probably just never going to make sense of it because I can't. So that's that, I guess.
There were extra hurdles to jump over when your imprint was a two-year-old. Quil had discovered that soon after he first looked Claire Young in the eyes.
Yes, his imprint worried whether she'd get a cookie after dinner instead of the "mature" worries of the other imprints. That didn't mean there weren't some hurdles.
Quil was sure no one else's imprint threw temper tantrums when they didn't get what they want. He was also positive he was the only wolf who had been roped into a tea party. He'd watched the others get out of it while he hadn't been able to find the willpower himself.
And that was all within the first day of having an imprint.
Now he had realized another hurdle that having a toddler imprint had afforded him: said imprint's parents. Even Kim, who had been the youngest of the imprints before, was old enough to have pretty solid control over her own life. Claire had a good deal of her choices decided for her, and just how much Quil could be in her life was one of those decisions.
That fact had taken several hours to sink into Quil's head. He had imprinted while Claire was being babysat by Emily after all, and Emily knew Claire was safe in Quil's hands. She also knew the power of the imprint first hand and was the least likely of them all to question it.
But come the end of the day, Claire would be handed over to parents who didn't know Quil or anything about the wolves or imprinting. She would be taken back home to the Makah Reservation more than an hour away by car. Admittedly, Quil could run there much faster, but that required providing her parents with an excuse.
What was he supposed to do?
None of the other guys had to explain anything to parents. Quil wasn't sure what either Emily's or Kim's parents thought, but it wasn't the truth. Emily's brother, or Claire's father as Quil now had to think of him, knew nothing either.
Nothing except that his sister had moved to La Push to be with his cousin's ex-fiancee. Would that story be enough to convince him of the power or imprinting? Or would he just kill Quil? Would it be easier to see Claire when he could without them knowing? Having Emily volunteer to babysit quite a bit more often than was normal?
He had no clue what to do, and that's where his alpha came in.
It was five hours since the imprint, and all the other guys were still reeling. Quil had taken it surprisingly well himself. It made sense, and while he knew it was because of the bond, he couldn't quite understand the shocked reactions of his brothers.
Jared and Paul were still laughing about it. The others were a mixture of horrified and amused. Except Sam who was shocked and unsure. While Sam's reaction wasn't picture perfect, he was alpha and the only source of advice Quil could think of.
Jared and Sam were the only other wolves to have imprinted, and Jared wouldn't bother to come up with worthy advice.
Claire had plopped herself down on the floor across from Quil as she played with the train set whose track Quil had helped put together. She was zooming the train round and round, not appearing bored with it in the slightest as she made choo choo sounds.
Quil could have watched her play like that all day and been sufficiently amused, but he was aware of the other people around. That was why talking to Sam was so crucial, even if the older wolf's attention was making Quil self-conscious.
"I don't know what to do about her parents," Quil stated. It felt good to get the worry out in the open. "I've never met them, and I've imprinted on their two-year-old daughter. They don't even know what imprinting is."
This was Quil's roundabout way of figuring out what he was allowed to reveal. Quil didn't feel right asking directly if he could tell them everything. The wolves were a secret and one that must be guarded closely. Quil had taken that very seriously, more so than any of the other guys, ever since he phased. Even Embry's mother didn't know, and Embry had turned down the opportunity to tell her. Part of Quil felt like he'd be a let down if he did tell Claire's parents, whether he had permission or not.
But he also had no idea how he was supposed to maintain a relationship with Claire if her parents had no idea what his intentions were. Most teenagers didn't start spending time with two-year-olds for no apparent reason.
Sam considered all of this. It was his job as alpha to make sure they each kept the secret, but this particular problem was unprecedented. Imprints learned the secret. That had been a given. But what to do when an imprint was too young to understand but had parents who were in charge of her?
"They need to know," Sam finally stated.
Quil knew Sam had to be thinking of his own connection to Emily. The one that was similar to what Quil was beginning to understand better than he ever had in the past.
He wouldn't be able to stay away from Claire for long stretches of time without having any clue how she was doing. It would drive him insane. He had to be on good terms with her parents to assure that didn't happen. There was no way around that.
Emily came into the room, taking a seat next to Sam and smiling at Quil and Claire where they sat on the floor.
"I could help you, if you'd like," she offered. "It's my own brother after all. I'd like to think he'd be willing to listen to me."
"More likely you than the stranger he's never met," Quil said dryly.
Sam nodded in agreement, although he was frowning as if worried about Emily being caught up in any reaction her brother had. Before his own imprinting, Quil would have considered it over the top since they were talking about her brother. Now Quil could better understand what was fueling the response.
"I assume you want to do this as soon as possible," Emily said. "Maybe even when she gets picked up this evening?"
Quil turned back to watch Claire. He did want her parents to know as soon as possible. He just didn't look forward to telling them.
"Yeah. If you think that's a good idea, Sam?"
Sam shrugged a little but also nodded his head, showing how uncertain he was.
"That's the best idea I know. They'd take it better being told right away. Imagine them finding out later that their daughter was an imprint without them knowing."
Quil thought back to Emily's reaction once she'd been told she was an imprint. A scene he had seen in Sam's thoughts several times. Emily hadn't been happy that Sam didn't tell her right away, regardless of the fact that it had been a shocking revelation. Quil was sure Sam was trying to take a lesson from that.
While Quil and Sam were both hesitant to do this, Emily's smile was cheerful. It probably had something to do with the fact that her family would soon know the secret. It must have been difficult moving away from family while also knowing you had a huge secret they couldn't discover. Sure, she had family here too, but that relationship was rocky.
Quil couldn't empathize though because both his grandfather and mother were aware of what he was. His grandfather had even anticipated him phasing.
They went quiet for a few minutes, watching Claire play with her train for lack of anything else to do. Then, Emily spoke up again.
"You both realize this happened for a reason, right? The imprint? Fate had a reason. They'll accept it, even if it's hard at first. I know my brother. Things will work out. This is what is meant to happen."
Quil could feel that same sentiment in the pit of his stomach. He had since he looked at Claire mere hours ago and had his entire outlook of the universe rearranged. That should have been enough to reassure him that things would work out, but it wasn't. There was still a part of his brain that was aware he was going to tell two strangers that their toddler was his soul mate. Tied to him for the rest of her life.
That wasn't something any parents wanted to hear. They'd label him a creep, surely.
Emily smiled and reached over to pat him on the shoulder.
"You'll be fine. They'll understand."
She said it like she believed it, but Quil had trouble accepting that she was right.
For the next several hours, Quil tried to push the coming confrontation from his mind and focus on getting to know Claire.
The life of a two-year-old may not have been complex, but Quil still wanted to know all her likes and dislikes. So far he knew she liked tea parties and trains, and he knew she hadn't wanted to eat the vegetables Emily had given her for lunch.
Nothing out of the ordinary, but it felt special nonetheless.
The idea of watching her grow and seeing those likes and dislikes evolve was thrilling for Quil. And also strange considering he would never have been interested in a toddler's life yesterday. Their lives had felt bland, not of concern for anyone but their parents, but now he could see that they could be quite charming. Claire, anyway, had a lot going on in her head. She experienced all the same emotions as adults, even if she'd had less experience with life. Quil wouldn't let that go unappreciated.
It almost felt like he had become a parent out of nowhere to a kid who already had parents. Or at least, this might have been what it felt like to have a younger sibling that you felt the need to protect and help raise. Quil didn't have siblings, but he did think this was stronger than any sibling relationship he had seen.
It was an odd dynamic, and he would be the first to admit that he had no game plan. The next twenty or so years of his life were going to be a huge guessing game around what this was morphing into.
If imprints of the past were any sign, Claire was his soul mate. Quil already knew he had lost all desire to be involved with other girls just like Jared and Sam had when they'd imprinted. But he didn't feel any of that desire towards Claire either. It was more like he'd lost all thoughts of girls, and it had been replaced with this intense desire to become a brother. Like Quil's own romantic desires had been replaced by what Claire wanted, whatever that was. She controlled that part of him now.
He could understand why the other guys were having trouble taking that seriously. His life was controlled by a toddler. The tea party he'd been wrapped into earlier that day was only the first of what was sure to be countless similar situations.
Quil's mind was still reeling with this radical change of mindset when Claire's parents showed up that evening.
He'd taken a seat in one of the two armchairs in Emily's living room, and he couldn't help but keep tapping his fingers on the armrest.
Claire was on the floor playing again, but this time it was with one of her dolls. She was muttering to it quietly, probably in an imitation of her own mother. Quil listened to her words and tried to let that comfort him. It helped until he heard her parents outside.
"Xavier, Sasha," Emily greeted them at the door. She cast a quick, worried glance at Quil as she let them inside. "Come in."
Emily ushered them into the living room and to the couch that Quil's chair sat beside. Emily joined them there, separating them from Quil at one end of the couch. Quil wondered if that was purposeful.
Claire's parents were oblivious to anything strange happening. They were eyeing Quil in curiosity, but they weren't concerned with his presence.
"This is Quil," Emily said in a bright, enthusiastic voice. There was a fakeness to it as she tried to present Quil as if he was synonymous with joy. "He's one of Sam's friends."
Claire's parents nodded in acceptance of this, but before anything more could be said, Claire had gotten up off the floor. Her mother made a motion like she expected her daughter to come to her, but Claire went straight for Quil instead.
"If I have to go home, does that mean I have to leave you, Quil?"
Quil took in a sharp breath. He chanced a glance over at Claire's parents, who were now regarding him differently. His heartbeat sped up, unsure how to handle it, but Emily stepped in.
"I'm afraid it does mean that, sweetheart. But you can always come visit Quil again."
This placated Claire enough, although her lip continued to pout. Emily turned towards the girl's parents instead.
"Quil's been playing with her today. She's had a great time."
This kept the couple from assuming anything strange for the time being. Xavier even nodded his head in acceptance. Quil wondered if Claire easily bonded with new people, which helped disguise the bond she had with Quil. He would take it. It bought him a few more seconds before he had to confront the situation.
Emily cleared her throat, and Quil took a deep breath to prepare himself for what he knew was about to happen.
"Xavier, Sasha, I have something serious I need to discuss with you."
The couple watched Emily with something akin to fear. "What's wrong?" Xavier asked immediately, sounding alarmed.
"Nothing," Emily said, brushing off the sentiment. "Nothing's wrong. This is a good thing, I promise. You just have to keep an open mind and be willing to suspend your disbelief for a bit. Okay?"
They agreed, although hesitantly. Quil listened to Emily's recount of being imprinted on and the drama that had followed. He'd never heard it from her before although he'd seen various versions in Sam's and even Leah's heads. Just like Leah's and Sam's accounts differed, Emily's did a little as well.
At points, Quil forgot why Emily was telling them this. Then he would remember that his imprint's parents were getting the truth, and he would feel anxious again. Each time that happened, he looked over at the couple to try and gauge their current reactions. Both of them had wide eyes. Only Claire, who was still playing on the floor, was unaffected.
By the time Emily had finished, the couple's shock still hadn't subsided. Emily and Quil were both quiet as they waited for a reaction. Finally, Xavier spoke.
"That helps explain some things, I guess."
Quil could hear Emily let out a long breath that revealed she had been nervous for that reaction. At least Xavier wasn't running away or asserting that there was no such thing as shapeshifters.
"We did wonder why you decided to date Sam considering what it did to Leah," Xavier continued. "Especially with how close you and Leah were as kids."
Emily bit her lip, still upset about how everything had happened.
"Does Leah know?" Sasha spoke up. "About imprinting and the wolves? Because if not-"
"She knows," Emily interrupted, not wanting to hear whatever it was that Sasha was going to say. "She didn't at first, but she does now. Leah, uh, Leah is actually a wolf as well. She's the only female in the pack. Her and Seth were the last to phase other than Quil."
The couple was surprised two family members were wolves, but their attention turned to Quil when Emily motioned at him. Quil's stomach sunk even though their eyes flittered quickly back to Emily.
"How many wolves are there?" Sasha asked.
"Eight," Quil said. He might as well begin speaking up since he was going to have a lot of explaining to do in a second. "We're not dangerous or anything," he felt the need to tack on like he was already defending himself from the words he knew would come. "Not once we learn how to get ourselves under control. I'm the newest wolf, but I can control myself well."
He almost added that he was better at controlling his temper than Paul was even though Paul had phased third, but he stopped himself. He wanted them to see that he was safe, but pegging Paul as dangerous might also have the effect of Claire not being allowed around any of the wolves.
It went quiet after that, only Claire's happy mutterings to her doll broke the silence.
"Good to know," Sasha muttered, and Quil wasn't sure if she meant it or not. He didn't think she knew if she meant it or not.
"And how many imprints are there?" Xavier asked, hitting the million dollar question on the head.
"Three," Emily said. "Sam, Jared, and Quil have imprinted."
Both of their eyes snapped to Quil more intently than they had in the lead up to this. They stared at him for several minutes before they both broke away at different moments to look at their daughter. Quil knew they'd realized, although both of their expressions remained impassive.
His heart was beating so loudly in his chest that Quil had a hard time believing the humans couldn't hear it.
"My imprint isn't romantic," Quil assured them, even though they had yet to confirm who Quil's imprint was. "The imprint means that the wolf is whatever his imprint needs. It doesn't absolutely anything about the relationship other than what the imprint herself decides."
Sasha nodded while her husband's jaw clenched tightly. Quil couldn't judge how scared he should be. His mind didn't even bother to remind him that he was a wolf. That wouldn't matter much if his imprint was kept away from him. He'd have to honor Claire's parents' wishes if he had any hope of a good relationship in the future.
"Just so we're clear," Xavier bit out, sounding angry but potentially no more than Emily could handle. "You've imprinted on Claire."
"Yes," Quil confirmed, voice quiet. "But it's not like Sam and Emily. I promise you that. All I want is what's best for Claire and what makes her happy, even if that means being an unpaid babysitter for the next however many years."
"He means it," Emily rushed to add. "Sam and the other guys have been inside his head. They've seen his thoughts. Everything he's saying is true."
Xavier had been looking calculatingly at Quil. Now he turned the same gaze at his sister.
"And you're sure your own fairy tale story with imprinting isn't clouding your judgement?"
Emily's jaw tightened like her brother's had before. Quil didn't know if it was because her relationship had been called a fairy tale or because of the implication that her judgement was faulty.
"I'm sure. I know Quil. Much better than you do, I might add. I know his intentions are nothing but good."
It took a few more minutes of stifling silence and a long look between husband and wife, but eventually, Xavier sighed.
"I'll admit that this is strange, and I'm not sure how to handle it. But from what Emily has said, Claire will suffer if you're away from her, right?"
Quil shrugged in honesty. "Emily and Kim are the only other imprints that we have evidence from, so I'll be honest: We don't know everything, but it seems like it, yeah. Claire will probably feel a pull to me like I do her. She'll want to be around me.
"But if she doesn't, then I won't push her. I'll never push her."
He needed them to understand that.
They shared another look, and Quil bit his tongue in anticipation of their response. This was the final verdict. He could feel it coming.
Sasha nodded slightly, and Quil's stomach flipped.
"Okay," Xavier said, and Quil had to restrain himself from jumping up and down in relief. "You can see her. I'm not sure how we'll do it, but we won't keep her away from you unless we see a reason to. I trust my sister. And I've seen how happy Emily is with Sam. I still don't know how to feel about werewolves and soul mates and all that magical stuff, but there doesn't seem to be much of a choice."
Sasha nodded along with her husband, and Quil let a smile overtake his face.
"Thank you," he said, not feeling like the sentiment was enough.
Being kept from Claire would have ruined him, and it felt like his future had fallen into place for the second time since imprinting.
"I'll prove myself. I promise."
Sasha laughed a little at that, although she still looked hesitant about the whole thing.
"I think you will," she said. "I just hope this is the right decision. Whatever that means."
Did the imprint carry over to parents somehow and allow them to see the connection? Or was the connection just obvious to anyone who bothered to pay attention? Quil thought it would be nice if it was, if people could see how special of a relationship an imprinted couple possessed.
"Thank you," Quil repeated, still not believing that was enough for the people who had given him everything.
Without them, his imprint wouldn't exist. The realization hit Quil hard. He owed everything to these two people he had just met.
Xavier stood up and pulled Quil into a hug.
"Welcome to the family. I guess," he told Quil with a clap to the back.
His tone still showed his hesitance, but Quil felt like there was a real sentiment there. Maybe that was just optimism.
Emily beamed at them though, and it felt like optimistic was the only way Quil could be at the moment.
He stooped down to Claire's level to say goodbye. Only for a little while. And he couldn't help but be thankful for everything that had led to this moment.
Quil had never believed more in fate. Even if he still didn't understand.