I had showered, dressed, and backed out of going to the beach bonfire four times before Jacob finally dragged me out of the house. His grip on my arm was warm and tight as he pulled me to the passenger side of his car. His face calm and beautiful, as always, was looking straight on towards the car. As we reached the door he turned me around and looked straight into my eyes. "I don't care if you don't want to go, you are going."

And stupid ol' me couldn't move after that. The fire in his eyes, the intensity, was surprising. He slowly pushed me down onto the seat, where I stared out of the window, and not talking for the next five minutes. I guess he got tired of silence when he switched his radio on. The music was blaring so loud that not only would I go deaf, my baby probably would too. "Jeez, could you like turn it down a bit? I don't want my nose and ears to bleed and then have your friends think I'm some drug addicted, baby mama."

He stared down at me as he stopped at a red light. I looked up sheepishly at his face. "Sorry. Sometimes rambles will unintentionally creep it's way out," I sighed, picking at the edge of my jean shorts. "They usually make no sense at all." He laughed as I spoke and turned down the loud music, his hand leaned over; slightly ruffling my hair. I smacked his hand away playfully, but his hand was heavy as it finally landed on my neck. I was about ready to smack it again but it calmed my nerves. His warm hand releasing the tension in my shoulders and neck.

My mind was telling me to not feel the feelings that were racing through my body. I was going through the tragedy of losing my parents, who weren't even going to see my child's life, and I'm sitting here acting like the love of my life is sitting next to me. That was one of the reasons I didn't want to go tonight, it wasn't just because I didn't want to be a tag-along, but I didn't want to have fun when my parents couldn't. They can't laugh while running on the beach, they can't play volleyball in the sand, they can't live anymore. Why should I?

I had been so distracted by my thoughts and Jacob's hand to realize we were sitting in the parking lot of the beach. I felt a breeze on my neck and found that Jacob's hand no longer rested in it's spot. He was already getting out of the car and dragging the beach towels, blankets, and a couple other things out of the back. I slowly opened the door, letting my feet touch the hard concrete below. I could already see the group of people on the left side of the beach. Jacob had said that they usually hung out where there weren't many people around.

I walked around to the front of the car and waited for him. Jacob came around front and handed me the big wool blanket to carry. He noticed the uneasiness that shown through my eyes; anxiety and fear probably etched on my face. He maneuvered the beach towels and what looked to be a Radio/CD player onto the left side of his body; leaving his right hand open for him to use. He grabbed my hand and squeezed tightly, reassuring me it was going to be OK. We started to walk down towards the group; his hand still tightly grasping mine. As we got closer my nerves started to subside.

His friends looked nice enough. They were all big, but so was Jacob. That wasn't surprising. Most of them were playing football, laughing as they knocked each other into the hard sand. The older men and women, Billy included, were sitting up away from the water. There were three women, that were closer to my age, cheering the boys in their game. Jacob looked down at me; smiling. I shyly smiled back up at him feeling foolish that I had been feeling the way I was. Jacob was just trying to show me a good time, and Billy was here if I felt like I needed to talk to someone.

I followed Jacob up to where the adults were sitting. Billy spotted us from his chair he was sitting; his wheelchair had been placed beside him. He smiled cheerfully as we walked up to them. Jacob dropped my hand to sit down the beach towels and radio. He slipped a bag off of his arm that I hadn't seen before and laid it down by Billy. "We are glad you came, Juno." Billy said pulling a book out of the bag Jacob had carried. "You should introduce her to everyone, Jacob."

Jacob turned to me and rolled his eyes. I smiled as he went behind the chairs and stood where a older lady in her fifties was sitting. She had dark brown hair that was slightly graying. Her smile was kind as she looked up at me. "This is Sue Clearwater. You'll meet her son and daughter in a minute." He moved to the next person; he was a older man, the oldest out of the group at least. His hair was salt white. He looked brittle but his smile is what lit his face. "This is Quil Senior. His grandson is playing football."

I smiled at them all. I felt welcome by them; it was like I was part of their family. Jacob came around front and grabbed the blanket out of my hand and laid it on top of the beach towels. "It was nice meeting you. Thank you for letting me come." Quil Senior's smile grew larger; his skin crinkled. "Dear, it isn't an imposition." His voice was shaky and weak; it showed his age. I blushed and ducked my head as I smiled. Jacob grabbed my hand and dragged me away from them. Billy chuckling as I waved.

Next were the girls I had seen cheering on the boys. They smiled and waved as we came near. Jacob hugged one of the older girls and turned towards myself. "This is Emily. She is married to Sam, he is playing football with Old Quil's grandson." She was very pretty; then she turned her face and I saw the scars of what looked to be claw marks. I tried my best to not let it show on my face, it must have worked for she just smiled even larger as I shyly waved. Her hair dark black hair hanging straight fanned in front of her face as she turned back to watch her husband. "These two are Leah Clearwater, Sue's daughter, and Kim; Jared's girlfriend."

Leah looked like a younger version of her mother. Her smooth perfect copper skin blended beautifully with her wavy black hair. Her smile was friendly as she looked back from the game, she waved. Kim was the most normal looking out of all the girls, but I still felt intimidated by her beauty. Her lips curved perfectly when she smiled, and her eyes made her look like a little girl. "Hey! You're Juno, right?"

At least she was more out spoken then the girls.

"Yep. That would be me." I said smiling. Why am I nervous? I am never nervous! Once you jump in a fountain at the mall completely naked in front of hundreds of kids from your school, you can't really ever be nervous. "Do you like it here yet?" Kim asked as I silently chuckled at the old memory. I looked up at Jacob and then back at Billy. "Yeah. I'm really starting to love it here again." Kim looked at me; her eyebrow raised.

"You used to live here?"

I nodded. "I was born here. Then my parents moved to New York when I was around six or seven." She nodded, assuring me that they were all happy to have me here. Jacob turned towards the rough game of football that was almost done. His eyes with excitement. I knew he wanted to be out there, tackling and having fun with his friends. I dropped his hand and pushed him towards the boys. He looked back, his eyes tightened, almost as if it was hurting to leave. "Go," I shooed him away. "I can meet them later."

+v+v+

The football game had finally ended and I had met all of the guys. Embry was hilarious, his sarcastic humor and mine put together was like a 'comedy central' special. Quil Junior was the quietest out of the group, his shyness made him seem like a little boy that you just want to hug. Paul was a lot more polite then what I thought he was going to be, Jacob had said to watch out for his short temper and crude words, but I saw nothing of that kind. Sam was a lot more calm out of all the guys, including Quil. He seemed to have a lot on his mind, but he was calm all the same. Jared, Kim's boyfriend was very nice, he reminded me of Sam a lot. And in the end I finally got to meet Seth, Sue's son.

From the stories Billy had told me he was a lot like his father, Harry. I hadn't known the man, but it still broke my heart to hear he had passed away. The other boy, Brady was a lot like Seth. We all decided we wanted to play Volleyball. Jacob was a leader on the one team; Leah on the other. They played Rock, Paper, Scissors to decide who got to pick first. Leah won. Jacob stared at me from where Leah and him were standing, getting ready to pick their players. I made a face at him and he chuckled.

Leah turned towards the group and looked right in my direction. "Juno." Jacob's head turned towards her, he scoffed. I smiled at him as I walked over towards where Leah was standing. I pointed at him, "Better watch out, Mister." His lopsided grin placed on his face. I clapped hands with Leah as I stood behind her. The picking ended after a few shouts of protests and fury. The teams were, Myself, Jared, Emily, and Embry on Leah's team. And Kim, Quil, Seth, and Brody on Jacob's. Sam had decided to sit out and make a fire to cook the hot dogs.

We played for almost a half an hour before everyone had finally started to crash. There had been many weird moments between Jacob and I, smiles, winks, and the occasional grab on his part. There was that one moment where we got tangled up in the net, when we had taken a small break. We had been talking by the net, he was on his side, I was on mine. We had been talking about music, his favorite band is The White Stripes, mine being Jefferson Airplane. He was messing around and joking when he leaned up against the net. Guess that the poles weren't far enough in the ground like Sam said they were because the whole thing fell over.

Of course it dragged me down with it. I had been laughing so hard from the look that had been on his face. It was pure surprise. He was laying across my stomach, the net tangled in his shaggy black hair. Tears from laughing were welling up in my eyes. He noticed and quickly tried to untangle us, he got me unhooked and grabbed my face In between both of his hands. He looked like he wanted to laugh but his fear that he had hurt me was making him stop. "Are you OK? I didn't hurt you did I? I didn't mean to!"

I nodded and choked out another laugh before speaking. "I'm OK. Are you?" He nodded, a smile lighting his face. I sat up and ran my fingers over the net that was tangled in his hair. His hair was so soft, whatever shampoo he was using, I wanted it. I found myself making the net even more tangled so I could keep my fingers there. He was chuckling the entire time. Everyone had been worried at first, a couple coming close to make sure we were alright. Once our, well my, laughter had been heard they backed off.

After that the fire was done and it was time for food. I was amazed by how much food was there and even more amazed in the end when it was all gone. Jacob had at least seven hot dogs. Most of the boys had more then him. One thing I noticed was that he is always close by. Even when he was helping Sam cook all of the hot dogs he had me with him, when we ate he was sitting right by my side, when I decided to run up to the ice cream parlor that was a short walk away, he was there. It was comforting though, the less space or time away from Jacob the better in my mind.

I didn't know if I felt this way because I had lost my comfort blanket which had been my parents or if it was because I really did feel something for him. I couldn't figure it out. It was finally dark when everyone settled down Billy and Sue had left to take Quil Senior home, declaring it was 'past their bedtimes'. Everyone was sitting close around the fire since the cold breeze had picked up. The blanket already across Jacob and I as we laid back against the log of wood. Sam and Emily had decided to take a walk down the beach, and Leah, Embry, and Quil where checking the water out. Seth and Brody were building something in the sand.

It was just Jared and Kim, who were sitting across from Jacob and I, the fire almost covering them from site. I looked up at Jacob, his eyes had closed already and his breathing was heavy. I stared up at his peaceful face, he looked younger when he was asleep. He looked like the nineteen year old he should look like instead of the twenty-five year old he actually does. I curled up against his side and started to absentmindedly play with his hair. When he spook, his voice startled me. "What does it feel like, being you know…pregnant?"

I sat up and looked in his direction, but stared out towards the parking lot thinking. "A lot of people that know I am pregnant think that I am stupid and selfish for keeping it. It was something that I could have easily gotten rid of. I mean I wasn't planning on even having it, it just sort of happened. And if it happened to me then it was meant to happen for a reason." He nodded, taking his fingers and tracing along my hairline. "He was my best friend. We had been friends since my parents and I moved to New York. When we were ten, we had been watching this Lifetime Movie Network thing, and it was about how a baby made this family's world change for the better."

I chuckled at how stupid we had been. "We made this pact, that if we hadn't had…it…by the time we were eighteen we would...do it…together." I didn't know why I was telling him this, but I felt like I could tell him anything. "We were at this New Year Eve party. We were both drunk, he brought it up and I guess somewhere in our stupid minds it seemed like the right thing at the time. Of course, alcohol can do that to you."

He smiled. I looked sadly after the parking lot. "He moved a couple weeks after his family heard I was pregnant. He wasn't ashamed to say it was his, but his family was. His parents are a big Catholic family, his dad being a pastor and all, they told us that we were having a devil child and that they were not staying around to be embarrassed. He told me to keep him updated, but I haven't spoken to him in weeks." I looked down at him and he looked livid, His hand shaking against my face.

"They said you were going to have a devil baby? You are giving life to an unborn human. A human being who breaths air and helps the world!" He took his hand away from my face and took a deep breath, he sighed as he looked at my troubled face. He took my face in his hands and looked into my eyes. "You are not going to have a devil's baby. It will be the smartest, healthiest, and most beautiful baby anyone will ever lay eyes on. And all because he or she has a mom like you."

He kissed each of my cheeks and laid back against the log. I blushed looking down at the beach blanket. I laid down on my back as faced up towards the moon and stars. I felt him move beside me and then felt weight on my lower belly. I looked down to see Jacob's head positioned right on the larger by the minute belly bump. I felt tears come to my eyes as I felt his hand on my side and heard his kind words spoken through my belly to the baby that was unborn and wasn't even his.

He reached back and grabbed the wool blanket we had been covered with and wrapped it around both of us, his mouth and ear still to my belly. He had my heart in his hand, and he didn't even know it.