Chapter 2: Once the Earth Settled


Quil and Claire's honeymoon was not planned in advance so there was no time limit to their Portuguese getaway.

They were living in a Cullen owned home that was filled to the brim with enough food and cash to survive the apocalypse. They were on their second month, although if you asked either Quil or Claire their answers would range from three weeks to one month. They did not take the time to count, their nights and days often melded together in a tangle limbs and sweaty torsos.

Quil was in heaven, a life of no responsibilities or schedules, free to lounge on the beaches of the Estoril Coast, eat gourmet foods, learn how to paint from Claire (something he was terribly bad at but enjoyed all the same) and have mind-blowing sex at least twice a day, although neither of them was counting. If they had been counting they would have discovered that they had in fact made love more time in those two months than most married couples have in three years.

It was one of these days, a Tuesday or Thursday possibly, that Claire and Quil lie silent on a deserted beach. It was getting cooler, a sign that it was time they should head back, but neither of them felt compelled to mention it, they just snuggled closer trying to plan the day's events.

In the last two months they had:

Visited countless cathedrals.

Taken a class in pottery.

Enjoyed a scenic train route over to Spain for some sightseeing.

Attended workshops to learn how to dance the Fandango.

Shopped in boutiques with names they couldn't pronounce.

Restaurant hopped all along the coast.

Weekended in Morocco which is surprisingly closer to Portugal than either of them were previously aware.

Checked out Algeria on a tour group. Neither of them knew anything about Algeria previously, but with the constant babble of their British tour-guide they were both now able to recite a plethora of Algeria facts that could impress just about anyone.

Studied under a master chef to learn how to make traditional Portuguese meals such as Alheira, caldo verde, and arroze de mariscos.

and

Partied in some of the hottest European nightclubs.

They were running out of legitimate reasons as to why they continued to stay away from the real world. It was Claire who spoke reason first, although it was almost physically painful to do so, Quil's rock hard body reminding her of all the things she would be losing once they returned to La Push. She did miss her mother and the pack though, a conundrum she'd never thought she'd have to face: exotic paradise for two or dreary La Push with all of her loved ones.

"So, I guess we have to get going soon," she said dusting sand off her leg.

"We do?" Quil asked using his huge hand to help her remove the pesky wet sand, which had gotten there after they took a foray into exhibitionism and gotten busy on the sand.

"Yeah, we can't exactly live here forever. You've got the pack and I've got college or something," she trailed. She hadn't actually applied to schools yet, something she had planned to do so she could start the spring semester in January. There weren't many reputable school within driving distance of LaPush, a huge contributing factor as to why she had been dreading this discussion. Once they returned she couldn't put it off much longer.

"Okay," he folded easily, there were still many things he needed to settle at home.

Quil was not an observant man, generally, but when it came to Claire he missed nothing, so he knew she was skirting around the issue of school, and he also knew the reasons why. He would not stand for her not completing her education whatever the reason, but then with sixty something odd days away from each other he was also painfully aware of his lack of self control when it came to Claire. Even if he could convince her to attend school farther away he knew he would end up running to her by the end of the week, he was just that addicted to her. That realization forced him to seek outside counsel and who better to ask than a hundred plus year old empath? I mean if you had one lying around why not?

Quil called Jasper with a jittery nervousness which then made him wonder if Jasper was capable of feeling through the phone. He was not, but years of human interaction made it painfully clear to Jasper that Quil was conflicted. The vampire didn't quite understand the problem. The conversation, while comical was not all that helpful. Jasper's views on pack (or in his case coven) responsibilities were extremely precarious, and his advice to Quil could be summed up as "fuck em all, follow your girl", and so that was the plan. He wouldn't have put it so harshly, but both Jared and Paul had bowed out and now it was his turn, at least for the time being.

He had never been an amazing student, but he was going wherever she was going, and thanks to a very generous offer of forged papers and donations by Edward, the two of them were set to attend Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, a small private liberal arts school with a booming and progressive art department that Claire had casually mentioned more than once.

What was he going to study? He still had no clue, but they had special housing for married students and it was still in the state which gave him a reasonable distance to run home if there was trouble, a compromise he had not yet discussed with Sam or Claire. He thought it better not to argue on the last days of their honeymoon. So they ended up spending that day, a Thursday they discovered near the end as the booked their flights, packing their bags.

They had collected quite a lot of luggage over the last months. The two of them had never seen such a large amount money in their life. They had both tried to refuse when it was presented to them by Esme and Carlisle after their wedding, but once it was in their hands it was hard to give back. Neither of them had ever seen that sum of money in their lives. After putting some aside for savings Quil let Claire splurge. Claire especially went crazy with new European styles and gifts for every member of the pack and their spouses and children, including Anna's newly born triplets.

During the process of packing, Claire took extra care in handling each present, packing them in two separate pieces of luggage she had recently purchased with the presents in mind. Quil on the other hand took special care packing Claire's new endless line of lingerie, a fetish ignited on their wedding night when Quil ripped off her dress to reveal a tiny set of blue lace, so small that it could scarcely be called underwear but which turned him on more than anything had before.

They were set to leave in the morning, first to Italy for a two day farewell to the Cullens who had been more generous than either of them could have ever imagined and finally home to Washington. When they arrived at the Cullen's small but lavish house they were met with a flurry of excitement, both for the arrival of Seth the day previous and the impending birth of Nessie's first child.

Having not seen Seth for months Claire's excitement was at such a fever pitch she found it difficult to keep her hands off of him, which Quil tried hard not to growl at, slipping only once when Claire kissed his cheeks in a very Parisian manner. Seth was the first home comfort other than Quil that Claire had experienced in six months of European bliss, and he made her realize even more clearly how much she missed her home. He was bigger than she remembered, and also sadder. He was always like a bundle warm-fluffiness but the departure of Jessie, his girlfriend of five years, was a blow he was not handling well.

He still smiled, filling them in on all of the latest La Push news which had become much juicier now that there was a new batch of wolves on the scene—but there was a spark missing in him, something Claire could see Edward noticed too.

Quil and Claire had actually seen Jake and Nessie just weeks before when the foursome decided to meet in the middle and explore Spain, so they were pleasantly shocked to see the obvious signs of Nessie's pregnancy. Their time in Spain had been memorable. Quil was ecstatic to finally use the Spanish he learned in school; ordering and asking for directions at every turn. It wasn't often that seemingly useless information you learn in high school becomes relevant in your everyday life so Nessie didn't interfere, stepping aside and allowing Quil to navigate the journey although she was fluent in all of the modern romance languages, including Romanian, which although not terribly useful in her day to day communication was a very beautiful language in general.

Nessie could not have been more than one month pregnant but being as she was not a normal human, Claire didn't question the fact that she was already showing as much as Kim was in her fourth month. Seth seemed to know more about the subject of mystical creature procreation and didn't seem fazed by it at all. He had come to Italy by the demands of Sam and Leah, now on speaking terms, in an attempt to snap him out of the fog he was living in. He was visiting for two weeks, and Claire and Quil both prayed this would work, but as they said their goodbyes, Seth unenthusiastically waving to their car as they drove off, they were both doubting the efficacy of this plan.

The flight was first class, something they were sure they would never be able to do again. They also became very excited members of the mile high club, an opportunity they both truly hoped would present itself again.

BUt as they neared home they started to worry. Both of them had been too scared to call their parents to inform them of their picture book European elopement. Who wanted to ruin a honeymoon with screaming parents?

Lana, Claire's beautiful older sister who had discovered a new love for academia, was picking them up from the airport, back home for her Thanksgiving break. Lana had always been… shall we say, sexually vivacious? So Claire was pleasantly shocked to see her new improved older sister complete with a messy ponytail, tattered jeans, a blazer and an international socialist organization t-shirt.

People changed, Lana was walking and intellectually talking proof of that—she was even happy for them when they showed her the ring, purchased post nuptial in a tiny jewelry shop in Casablanca. So they were hoping time had changed all views and opinions, because their first stop in La Push was the Young/Uley house, where Emily and Claire's mother Joanna were waiting for their arrival. It was meant to be a welcome home celebration but with the news they were about to drop they didn't think anyone would be much in the mood for partying.

Claire had been forbidden by her mother to be married before she finished college, Joanna herself had gotten pregnant and shotgun married before she even finished high school. They both promised, Quil and Claire, a week before her departure that they would wait until after her graduation.

Claire's father, who was generally not a big fan of Quil, might finally get some moral support from his ex-wife. Yes, a promise is a promise and Claire and Quil had broken their promise with so much gusto they might as well have taken a sledgehammer to it. They even learned how to dance the fandango on it, forgetting it completely until the second week of their honeymoon when Claire remembered her weekly phone call home was about three weeks late.

The first person they saw when they arrived was Brady, rocking baby Annabelle in the doorway humming as they came by. She was almost a year now, her beautiful Kim-like long lashes fluttering in the warm breeze as Claire and Quil walked up the driveway. Claire smiled, it was a beautiful sight, something that probably meant much more to her than anyone else, as she had once been held by a giant like him, loved so thoroughly no harm could penetrate his warm barrier.

"Hey, Brady," she whispered giving Annabelle Cameron the lightest of kisses on her tanned little forehead and rubbing his thick bicep as she passed.

"Welcome back," he whispered his eyes not straying from his infant imprint for more than a second.

"Thanks," Quil said gently squeezing Claire's hand as they prepared for the worst. Kim ran to them, her arms out in full hug mode, grabbing Claire and as much of Quil as she could.

"I missed you my Claire-bear!" She screamed kissing them both, much to Jared chagrin. He stood behind her with his older daughter Amber, now eight, slung on his back.

"CLAIRE! QUIL!" She shrieked hopping up and down so that her father effectually became a mule.

"Oh gosh, Amber! It's only been six months and look at how big you've gotten?" Claire exclaimed pulling her off of Jared the mule and hugging her to her chest.

"Yeah, I'm big and strong, just like Ethan and I'm gunna be a wolf too," she said matter-of-factly.

"Well, wouldn't that be nice," Quil said patting her head and looking over to Jared. They shared a very manly nod greeting which was supposed to read, 'I've missed you a bunch, it's great to see you!'

"And where is Ethan?" Claire asked looking around for the four newest pack members. Claire had played babysitter to all the youngest wolfpack kids them growing up; it the first bit of pocket-money she ever earned. Mark and Taylor had never been a problem, and neither was Ethan really, but David, David was the handful. She was excited to see how wolfiness was suiting them.

"He's in the woods camping he—" Amber was about to go into a fully fledged tale of how Ethan's girlfriend Trisha (Paul and Rachel's daughter) had been imprinted on my his best friend David Uley and therefore he was left heartbroken and alone, camping out in Quil's house and occasionally the woods avoiding society like a love-sick hermit, but Kim stopped her. Amber was quite the story weaver and Kim wasn't really thrilled to hear the tale again as it had caused her the friendship of her fellow wolf-girls.

Usually an imprint meant an instant couple and while that would have devastated her son Ethan it would have been preferable to the drama that preceeded. Trisha wouldn't let her Ethan go and he wasn't stepping back, which broke the packs pact.

"He's not welcome here anymore. This is the first time we've been in this house since… well, a while," Kim whispered, sighing loudly and extricating Amber from around Claire's waist.

"We just wanted to see you, but we should be going," she said kissing Claire's cheeks and turning to the door. Claire was speechless. She gave Kim a huge package of gifts for her family and waved as they left.

How could everything have turned out so fucked up over one imprint? How could the drama over this one imprint last so long? Watching Jared slink out of the house, avoiding Paul's angry eyes Quil wanted to scream at them to come to their senses. They had been through hell together several times over, but he knew it wasn't his place.

"Quil, Claire," Helen smiled brightly, using her free arm that wasn't holding her adorable son to pull Collin to her side.

"It's good to see you two," Helen said warmly, she hadn't realized how much she missed Claire until she saw her. She was really lonely lately, afraid to hang out with any of the wolf girls too much for fear that they would think she was taking sides in this battle of the OG wolf Girls.

"You too, Helen. Oh I missed you guys," Claire exclaimed pulling Helen into a hug. Helen was not a very physical person, so she was surprised to discover the hug was exactly what she needed at the moment, Claire's untainted affections coursing through her every move.

"Oh, mi Chica Bonita!" Leticia's borderline comical accent rang through the room and Helen bowed out allowing the crowd equal opportunity to embrace the prodigal son and daughter, who from the looks of the band on Claire's finger were now married. Helen was the first and only of the crowd to notice it, they were all too wrapped up in the exotic gifts Claire passed out and Quil tale of a horse sized wolf swimming the Atlantic.

Joanna didn't detach herself from Claire long enough for them to break the news from a safe distance, after they presented her with a beautiful handmade sapphire colored dress from Morocco they spit it out.

"We got married on September 9th," Quil said looking Claire's mom straight in the eye.

"We got married in Avignon, France. Mom it was so beautiful and perfect and—"

"You got married without me?" That was not the response Claire had expected to hear. She was prepared for a long list of complaints and claims but not being there was not one of them.

"Well, we have this," Claire said rummaging through the gift luggage to find one of the professional photo albums they had received a week after the ceremony. She handed it to Joanna, who was slumped in defeat at the kitchen table, Emily patting her back.

"You ran away and eloped, Claire? That's just not like you," Emily said eyeing her. Trisha was eyeing her too, a new sparkle of hope in her eye that Quil did not miss. He was starting to wish they were somewhere private, he didn't want to be the one responsible for filling any of the wolf-kids with ideas of European elopement.

Joanna flipped through the album roughly, huffing and tutting, wiping her eyes every now and then before finally speaking.

"You got married in a church?" Again, not a question Claire was prepared for.

"Yeah, a cathedral actually," she said scooting closer to Quil.

"No papers from the government, then it doesn't count," Joanna said standing, placing the album roughly on the table and heading out the kitchen. Quil and Claire and all the other members of the pack and extended family watched her leave, both relieved and confused.

Claire followed, urging Quil to stay put as she walked out of the Uley house. As passing she finally caught sight of one of the newest wolves. David sat despondent and alone on the front steps. Claire couldn't help but stop for a second, rubbing his now closely shaved head and giving him a tiny kiss on the cheek.

"Mom," Claire called as she reached the driveway. Joanna sat with one foot in her car, wrapped in a shawl and pointedly looking out onto the abandoned road. Throughout her life Claire had always saw her mother as a big sister, but looking down at her now, Claire finally felt like the daughter and a bad one at that.

"I'm sorry if I disappointed you, I know you wanted us to wait, but—"

"I'm not disappointed."

"Then what's wrong mom, I know this isn't what you wanted for me, but I'm happy. I'm so happy I could burst, mom," Claire declared plopping down in the passenger seat beside her.

"Fine. I'm disappointed. I knew you were going to marry him. I knew you were going to marry him when you were five and you proclaimed that Quil was the best man in the world, but I just always thought," she stopped there, looking down at Claire then looking back at the road.

"What mom?" Claire prodded, her voice pleading. She hadn't seen her mother so upset since her parents divorce.

"That I'd be there. You're my baby, you and Lana are my biggest and best accomplishments. I know I wasn't the best mother—"

"Mom you were great," Claire interrupted, but Jo brushed it off.

"It's okay, you know that maternal business was always Emily's thing, I knew I would be a shitty mom. I wanted to be a flight attendant, I wanted to travel the world but once I had you, you two were everything…and now you're are growing so fast. Lana's in love with some revolutionary, and my baby's married. I'm fourty years old, I'm going to be a grandma sooner than later and I didn't even get to be there on one of the most important days of your life."

"I'm sorry mom," Claire didn't really know what to say, sorry didn't seem like enough right now.

"You're doing it again."

"What?" There was no way Claire could respond to that, because well, she had no idea what she was talking about.

"You two are going to have another ceremony here with your family, damnit! I deserve at least that much!"

"Okay," Claire said archly, looking around for support, the lawn was empty.

"When you finish school you two are coming back to town and getting married the Makah way or you'll both have hell to pay."

Claire smiled, she would marry Quil ten times if that made her mother happy, but she wasn't sure about school now though. She had felt so restricted by the imprint before, feeling guilty for leaving Quil for any period of time, but the cage of imprinting was now her home too. She knew she couldn't bare four years of being away from Quil.

"Okay, sure… but I don't know about school right now I—"

"I've got it covered," Quil said squeezing in the back of Jo's ancient toyota.

"We're going to school in Walla Walla in January. I haven't told the pack yet, but we got a house set up and we're enrolled, tuition is all paid up for the first two years."

"WE?" Claire practically screamed.

"Yeah, Edward did it really," Quil said nervously. He didn't really want to have their first argument as husband and wife with Joanna present. Claire almost flew over the seat, kissing Quil with such ferocity her mother blushed.

"So I guess that you're cool with it?"

"Oh my god, yes. But what about the pack?" She asked selfishly praying he was a hundred percent serious about going with her.

"I'm gunna tell Sam tonight, I think—"

"You should tell Embry then," Called from the porch just a few feet away.

"I'm stepping down, it's the right time and Embry's my second so he's taking over," Sam said with a tinge of sadness. He loved his job, but he also loved his wife more, and the thought of living in the world after she was gone was too much for him.

"Wow!" Proof once more that Quil and Claire were meant for each other they said it at the same time.

"Yeah, but they'll be fine without you man. We got four new wolves in town… six soon since Jordan, Anna and Michael are moving back to La Push. Did you hear Taylor, he imprinted on their baby girl?"

"It's a baby imprinting frenzy," Claire said without any sarcasm.

"Yeah, but I did it first," Quil said chuckling. Claire smiled so wide it made his heart burst with joy, the world was wonderful. The earth had settled and it was perfect.