I know I should have updated this sooner, but school is back in and I've been getting migraines from the insanity. I put up a sneak peek on my Pics and Peeks blog, but no one commented on it, so I take it no one saw it. Anyway, unless I get a review telling me to put up a sneak peek, I'm not posting one. I own nothing, and please review!

The week went by rather quickly. We went through our routines normally, and fell into a happy routine. We reinstated our Thursday night dinners with the moms, and it was the first time we'd seen our families in nearly three weeks.

"This is going to be weird," I whispered, feeling suddenly awkward when we pulled up outside of my mother's house.

Embry looked over at me, an eyebrow raised. "What do you mean?"

I blushed deeply, mortified at the words that came out of my mouth, again in a whisper. "They know we've had sex! Everyone knows we've had sex!"

"Baby, we're married. What did they think we'd do, take a vow of celibacy?" he asked, trying to crack a joke.

"But we made a point to let everyone know that we weren't…doing it…before the wedding. Now, they know we've done it! They knew that night that we were about to do it. This is going to be weird now!"

Embry reached over the console and cupped my cheeks. "Leah, you're acting crazy. And since when do you dance around the word 'sex', or any word for that matter?"

I growled at him. "It's weird to imagine my mom being totally aware that I'm a sexual being. I mean, she's suspected before, but now it's just common knowledge. It's just weird."

"How tired are you?"

"What?"

"Lee, you're tired or something. You're freaking out over nothing. Just pretend nothing is different from the last time we did this and we'll make it through the night with minimal blushing, okay?"

I pouted at him. "You're making fun of me."

His lips twitched, and I knew that was exactly what he was doing. "Baby, no one's going to say or do anything. Let's just go on in and have a nice evening with our families, okay?"

I was silent for a moment, then finally I nodded. "Okay. Okay, let's go."

"This is kind of like the talk we had on Christmas Eve, you know? Except a little backwards, I guess."

"Shut up, Embry."

He smiled fully. "I love you, Mrs. Call."

I rolled me eyes, then gave a half smile. "I love you, too, Mr. Call."

"Let's go."

Not a second after Embry had opened my car door for me, the front door was flying open and our mothers were rushing out to greet us. We were hugged by our respective moms, then were traded out. They led us in, talking excitedly over each other, asking about the house and work and what we had planned next.

Charlie and Seth were inside, and much less hyperactive. There weren't many words in edgewise around the questions being asked. We were questioned about college, and we had the opportune time to tell that I had enrolled in the same college as Embry, to take online courses like he would, starting in the fall. They both seemed pleased at the development, then bombarded us with even more questions.

"What are you going to get your degree in?" Mom asked, seeming anxious.

"I'm thinking about going to nursing school," I said with a shrug. "I've gotten so used to the hospital. I could transfer into one after we get settled better, and I could cut down to part time at the hospital. Maybe eventually I can become a doctor."

"A pediatrician?" Seth piped up between shoveling food down his throat.

I smiled at him. "How'd you guess?"

"'Cause I know you," he said, his mouth now full of food.

The questioning continued after that, and one thing was soon made painfully obvious. Of all the things Cassie had been exposed to and informed about, something very important had been left out. How Embry or myself had failed to mention it to her, I would never know, but my heart dropped at her question.

"So, do you two plan on having kids anytime soon?" my new mother-in-law asked casually.

The room went silent. Everyone glanced between me and her, waiting for something.

Finally, I just got it over with. "I can't have kids." Then I pushed a forkful of something I no longer could taste into my mouth, looking for a reason to not continue.

Her eyes nearly bugged out of her head, her face flushed red, and she stuttered for a moment over her words. "I-I didn't know…"

"I thought I told you," Embry said lowly, sounding almost ashamed. "I just…thought I told you."

Dinner passed tensely. We didn't stay long afterwards, and Embry and I didn't speak much the rest of the night. Late that night, we laid in bed silently, facing each other without touching. Finally, he spoke.

"I'm sorry. That was a disaster," he said, speaking the truth.

I had to agree. "Sure was."

"I really thought I told her," he insisted, and I rested a hand on his cheek.

"I know, Bry. It wasn't anyone's fault. I'm sure Mom explained when we left."

Embry turned his head to kiss the palm of my hand. "I love you."

"I'm okay," I said softly, caressing his cheek. "I promise."

He looked at me, his eyes boring into mine. "I know, Lee."

Something about his tone made me worry. "Baby, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, I just… My heart dropped, and all I could think about was you and how upset you were." He looked like he wanted to talk about something, but talking was honestly the last thing I wanted to do anymore.

We had had so many conversations about this. We were newlyweds. Babies weren't even supposed to cross our minds; at least, not for a while. I didn't want to think about my fertility, or lack thereof, and I didn't want to think about the fact that Embry seemed to be losing hope. He had said so many times that he thought we could have kids if we wanted, but tonight he looked hopeless. If he was losing faith, how was I supposed to keep my own?

"All I know," I said, shifting close to him, "is that I love you, and I'm okay if you're okay."

"If you're okay, I'm okay."

I cracked a smile. "So are we okay?"

Embry nodded, then kissed my mouth. "We're okay."

"Really?" I asked, dodging him when he came in for another kiss.

"Really," he said firmly.

"You sure?" I dodged another.

He growled, and it sounded both playful and frustrated. "Shut up and kiss me, woman."

I smirked at him. "Make me."

"You're cocky," he said, grabbing me by the waist and pulling me on top of him.

"And you're desperate."

Embry's eyes searched my playful expression, then he leaned up and tried for another kiss, which I finally granted him. When I pulled back for air, he grinned. "You think I'm cute."

"And you love me."

"Yes I do," he said seriously. "I love you very much."

"I love you, too," I said, smiling down at him. "Very much."

Friday passed peacefully. The children in the hospital were all calm, the weather was warm and sunny, and Embry and I were ignoring the stress of the previous evening. He had lunch with his mother, and he informed her of everything, and then passed along her apologies to me. Our evening was relaxed, and we slept in the next morning.

Saturday afternoon, however, we had a pack meeting, which I wasn't exactly looking forward to. As beta, I had to go, though, as did the rest of the pack.

When we got to the meeting place - the Blacks' yard - where Jacob stood while everyone else lazed around. When they saw Embry and I, they all started clapping and wolf-whistling, earning them a pretty little hand gesture from myself.

"Shut up and get this thing started," I said, standing next the Jacob with my hands on my hips.

"Well, we're rescheduling patrols again," Jacob said, earning a collective groan from the pack. "We're still running in pairs, but we're only running the border twice a day until further notice. We haven't picked up a scent in over a year, and it would be easier on everyone to cut out most of the patrols. The Cullens will keep us informed of any planned visitors they have."

Quil cocked an eyebrow at Jacob. "That's all you wanted to talk about?"

I rolled my eyes. "Are you upset about that?"

"Yes," Jacob interrupted, stopping the impending fight short. "All we have to do now is pair off and plan who runs when."

"I vote Leah and Embry are together!" Jarred piped up.

I shot him a nasty look. "It was over a month ago. Get. Over. It."

"Yeah, and who knows what would have gotten into your head since then."

"I know what's about to shoved down your throat," I shot back, raising a fist threateningly.

Jacob shot me a look. "Leah will run with Embry. Brady, Collin, I think you two are old enough to run together without an older member. You up for it?"

The two young wolves voiced their agreement, then high fived, obviously thrilled at the idea of not having to have a chaperone.

The rest of the meeting was Jacob assigning pairs, then telling who would run when, based on work and school. Embry and I would run early on Friday mornings, before work, which worked perfectly well for us. After the meeting was over, Embry and I went to visit our moms, for a makeup dinner of sorts. It went far better than the other, and Cassie pulled me aside to apologize for Thursday.

"I'm so sorry about the other night," she said in a hushed voice, her face giving away her honest emotion.

"It's okay, Cassie," I said, nodding to exaggerate my point. "I don't know how anyone forgot to tell you, we just did. It's not your fault."

She bit her lip. "Leah, I've been so guilty the last few days. I wasn't sure if…if you'd gone home and cried yourself to sleep, or if you thought I was the biggest bitch in the world, or-"

"Hey, I'm the biggest bitch in the world," I attempted to joke. "And nothing's absolutely certain. We just know that I haven't shown any body patterns whatsoever. My body just seemed to freeze when I first phased, and I've never shown and signs of changing since. Embry… He thinks we have a chance, someday, but he's as sensitive about it as I am, so we just don't mention it much anymore. It's just…common knowledge."

"I'm still sorry," she said in a whisper. "About everything. I wish there was something I could say to take it back."

I gave her a small smile. "Something that makes you and Embry totally alike is that you both show every little emotion. I know you didn't mean to hurt me or Embry, and I accept your apology. I swear."

She smiled, then pulled me into a hug. "Thank you."

The evening passed smoothly, and then Embry and I went home.

We were falling into a new norm, Embry and I, and knowing it was he who would be sharing that with me made all of my troubles vanish.

A/N: I know this is long overdue. Please review, though! And also, check out the blog, and tell me if you want a sneak peek.

~Sidney