AN: So, with encouragement from Taoist Elf, I extended this little one shot. It wlll probably be around three chapters, maybe four, but I'm not sure when I'll get around to writing the next chapter. I'm still in the middle of posting Hellhounds & Demons. Hopefully it piques your interest.
Finding Home
Chapter 2
Warmth like I'd never felt before wrapped me in comfort like cashmere as I slowly drifted up from the depths of sleep. My own body heat had never kept me this warm and toasty, even in my selkie skin. Barely conscious, I was nearly lulled back to sleep by the gentle rocking heat that matched the warm breeze that rifled through my hair.
"Bells, Jake, breakfast!" cut through the last shrouds of sleep as my island of yumminess startled and sat up, bringing me with it.
"Bells?" Jake rasped before yawning and stretching, my body falling to the mattress with a soft thump when he finally released his hold on me. "Oh, shit, honey, you okay?"
"Yeah, what's breakfast?" I asked, rubbing my eyes to remove the crustiness from my eyes. This was new, I didn't remember what it was like to sleep in ground walker form. I wondered what else happens when you sleep.
"First meal of the day." Jake answered, used to my random and some what odd questions.
"Okay." I said as I clambered out of bed. The rug was nearly my undoing as I tripped, arms splayed as I tried to catch myself as I hurtled towards the floor. Warm arms scooped me up, inches above the shiny hardwood floors.
"If you didn't want out of my arms so bad, you didn't have to go throwing yourself at the floor. You could have just said so." Jake said teasingly.
I craned my neck to look back at him and elbowed his ribs hard. "You know my balance is off the first couple of days back, jerk."
Jake just grinned and laid a smacking kiss to my forehead before releasing me.
"Jake, Bells?" Charlie's voice echoed up the stairs, closer than it was before.
"We're coming, Charlie!" Jake hollered back as he opened the door and led the way out. Charlie stood there, dishcloth thrown over one shoulder as he watched them descend the stairs. Halfway down, I tripped on something again and fell into Jake's warm back.
"Geez, Bells, do I need to carry you? You're not usually this bad on your feet." Jake asked as he waited for me to right myself again.
"That would be from the sugar, Bells." Charlie's mustache twitched as he tried to hold in a laugh. "Your momma called it a sugar hangover. She was even worse when she was pregnant with you. Come on you two, breakfast is ready."
The three of them walked towards the room were the strange scents were coming from. Jake pulled out a chair for me before seating himself at the table. I looked at him questioningly as I pointed to the ceiling, then rotated my wrist, making one large circle.
Jake sighed before rattling off, "We're in the kitchen, sitting at the table on chairs." Jake paused for a moment and pointed at the different food items on each plate. "This is eggs, bacon, and sausage. That's toast with butter and the little pots contain jam."
"Spell them please?" I asked quietly.
"Let's eat first, then we'll go over anything you want in the house." Charlie interrupted. "Dig in."
They ate quietly, I was completely absorbed by the new flavors that burst across my tongue. I think my favorite was bacon. It was sooo good!
"Bells," Charlie spoke up after I had the chance to taste everything, "you can have this jam on your toast but use it sparingly. It doesn't have any processed sugars but it has plenty of natural sugars that can get you tipsy. You might also have trouble with some carbs so no more than two slices of toast for now."
Shock rippled through me as I realized how lucky Jake and I had been that I hadn't eaten something that was bad for me before. He was always sharing some sort of food with me whenever he could sneak it out. Especially sugary treats. I wondered why they never really affected me as much as last night. I'll have to ask Charlie about it later.
I was done with my breakfast, so Jacob switched plates and finished off my leftovers. Having been used to this before, I didn't blink, although Charlie looked questioningly at us.
"Do you have to go into work Charlie?" Jake asked as I started cataloguing all the different things in the kitchen that I wanted to ask about.
"No. I took the next couple of weeks off. Figured there would be a lot of settling in Bella would need and I want to be here for her." Charlie explained with a nod at me. My attention was brought back to their conversation at the mention of my name.
"What's work?" I asked.
"It's what I do for a living. I'm the Chief of Police of Forks." Charlie answered.
I lifted up the fork that was still on the table. "Forks?"
"No, the town is called Forks." Charlie said with a chuckle. "I keep the peace around here."
"Why? Can't people keep the peace themselves?" I asked.
"Not very well." Charlie replied. "The government, people in charge, appointed me to be in charge of making sure everyone follows the law."
"Oh. But why would you want to do that? Do you like being in charge of people?"
"I guess, its a good job. Pays well enough." Charlie answered.
"What is pays?" I asked.
"Money, Bells." Jake said with patience. "Remember how I get money for my birthday sometimes? I used it to buy us chocolate at the store? Most people have a job to pay for things they need like food, this house, basic necessities. Humans don't live off the land anymore."
"Oh. Do I need to get a job? I'm not sure what I could do." I said trying to keep the worry out of my voice.
"No, Bells. You're going to go to school. Once we figure out where you're at grade level wise." Charlie explained.
"Okay." I said not really sure what school was, but figured that was more than enough questions for the morning.
"Come on Bells, let's clean up the kitchen while Charlie here takes a shower." Jacob said standing and pulling out the chair for me. It was a little disconcerting how easily he could push me around. But this was my Jake, he would never hurt me.
"We're going to head down to Sue's in a bit. I'm going to have her take Bella shopping for clothes and such, and then we'll meet up with Joy Ateara at the school on the rez. She was going to set up some specialized testing for Bella. We'll drop you off at school first." Charlie said with a stern glance at Jacob.
"Ah, Charlie, don't you want me to help out with Bells?" Jake asked.
"I'm not a project that Charlie needs help with, Jacob Black." I said stomping my feet.
"Bells and I will muddle through." Charlie said, ignoring my slight tantrum, but putting his arm around my shoulder so that I knew he wasn't ignoring me. "I did with Renee when we first met, I'm sure I can do it now with Bells. Besides, what's this I've been hearing about you skipping more days at school?"
"But-" Jacob tried to interject.
"Your dad's worried enough about you," Charlie continued, "I'm not going to contribute any more. Now it's a Friday, which means the two of you will have all weekend to hang out together. I expect you to go to school and get your homework done, or no coming over. Got that?"
"Yes, sir." Jacob said, slightly dejected.
"Alright, now help Bells clean up, like you promised, and I'll take a quick shower and we'll be on our way." Charlie said.
"What's a shower?" I asked Jake just to see the awkward blush rise in his cheeks. He figured it out quickly when he saw the grin nearly split my lips.
"Come on, question machine, let's get the dishes done." Jacob said as he tossed a rag at my face. I barely caught it in time. "Then you can take a shower and we can get going. Apparently I have to go to school."
"Aw, poor Jakey. You have to learn things." I smirked as I reached into the murky water and pulled out a dish. I cleaned it off before handing it over to Jake.
"Eh, it's not so bad, school. Just wish I could hang out with you. I've missed you." Jake said.
"I've missed you too." I replied, dipping my hand in for another dish. Sharp pain twisted along my hand and I hissed before I quickly pulled it out of the water.
"Shit, Bells, what did you do to yourself?" Jake asked as he saw the murky water turn pink with the addition of my blood. Opening my hand so we could look at the damage, there was a line cut open on my left hand from the tip of my middle finger, all the way up to the heel of my hand. It didn't seem super deep, but it was bleeding like crazy.
Jake rinsed my hand off in clean water then wrapped it tightly in a clean dish towel. He directed me to sit on the couch as he ran up to bang on the bathroom door, hollering through it, "Bells cut herself, I'm taking her to the hospital."
He sprinted back down the stairs and picked me up off the couch. An old red truck was in the driveway next to Charlie's cruiser and Jake bundled me into that before hopping in the driver's seat. Flipping down the visor, he caught the keys deftly before shoving them into the ignition. The beast roared to cantankerous life as Jake shoved the gear shift into reverse and peeled out of the driveway. Ten minutes later we were at Forks County General walking into the Emergency Room.
No more than five minutes passed when Charlie rushed in, hair wet, clothes damp, searching frantically for the two of them. He found us quickly and swiftly walked over. "Let's go. We're going to go down to the Rez clinic."
I looked at him questioningly, the clinic was a good forty-five minute drive, thirty-five if you were speeding.
"Cullens." Charlie said quietly.
"Shit, let's go." Jacob said, pulling me up into his arms and making his way to the entrance.
"Cullens? What's that?" I asked, confusion hiking the pitch up a notch.
"Not now Bells." Charlie said quietly. "Get in the back of the cruiser, we'll come back for the truck. You going to have problems with the sirens?"
"Yeah, you mind not using 'em?" Jake asked as we approached Charlie's cruiser which was parked just outside the Emergency Room doors, driver's side door still open. Jake climbed in behind me in the back, but pulled me onto his lap before I could protest. Charlie pulled out quickly, making as little extra noise as possible. The lights on top of the cruiser were on as soon as we hit the streets.
"Shouldn't take too long, how's the cut?" Charlie asked back to us, attention fully on the road ahead of us.
"It wasn't too deep on her finger, but was worse on her palm." Jake stretched out my hand in front of him. "She's starting to bleed through the towel. I'm going to tie it a bit tighter."
I hissed as the pain pulsed in my palm once Jake cinched the towel firmly. "I hope there was no blood left behind. Keep an eye out Jake. And call your dad, let him know we're on our way down."
In spite of the tension that was radiating from both Jake and Charlie, the warmth of Jake's arms and the steady cadence of the wiper blades combating against the light drizzle, slowly pulled me down into a light doze. Knowing we weren't going to be getting somewhere for a while, I felt safe enough to drift off.
XOX
One cold, lifeless finger reached down and swiped up the lone drop of blood. Smelling of an ambrosial bouquet of strawberries and freesia, golden eyes went black as a deep whiff settled into lungs no longer needing air to sustain it. The aroma overpowered any of the creeping scents of death and decay prevailing along the corridors of the hospital. Copper highlights gleamed under the insipid wash of industrial lighting as only one thought ran through his head.
Mine.
XOX
I was sitting in one of the bean bags in the Kindergarten room, looking at one of the picture books. Richard Scarry's Best Word Book Ever was the greatest book ever! It was perfect for what I needed. Then I wouldn't feel like such a dork for not knowing the words for things. I wondered if there were any more like it. I'll have to ask Mrs. Ateara - Joy - when she comes back.
We had spent quite a bit of the morning with Sue Clearwater. First she stitched up my hand, and then she helped me find clothes that would fit. I was temporarily borrowing some old clothes of her daughter Leah's at least until Sue could go out shopping for me. Which she headed off to do as Charlie took me to the school to take my tests. Which I did not like very much. They made me feel stupid since I wasn't familiar with a lot of things that they were asking about.
The sound of Charlie and Joy's footsteps echoed along the hall and I heard, or rather, didn't hear as they paused outside the door. "How'd she do?"
"She's reading at about a third grade level, but her information retention is amazing. I would only have to correct her once and she would catch on to what I was trying to get her to do. Her IQ level is fairly high, she merely has very little experience with the written word and quite a bit of vocabulary. You said she's had no formal schooling whatsoever?"
"Yes, I know that the only reading or writing she has learned has been from Jacob." Charlie replied. "And as far as I can tell, that's been in the summer time mostly. What kid is going to want to read or write or learn during their off-time? She has been with the Clan for the last fourteen years, their learning is completely oral based."
"The amount of information that is stuffed into her tiny little head amazes me. Her math skills are beyond anything I've ever seen, inspite of the fact that she does it completely in her head. She corrected the Quileute language arts teacher's grammar and knows the legends and histories of our tribe better than I do. I think the only one who knows more is Old Quil or Billy Black."
"Renee was like that, she could do all sorts of math in her head." Charlie said. "Has to do with the ability to navigate the oceans. Bet you you could put her out in the middle of a forest with just a map and she would have no problems finding her way home. Doubt she'd need a compass."
"I think if we get her vocabulary and reading skills up to par, she could join in with Jacob's class quite easily. Maybe it will help him be a little more focused at school. Can I send some books home with you two over the weekend and have you bring her back in on Monday for further assessment? We can work out a homeschooling schedule then."
"Yes, that sounds perfect, Joy." Charlie said as he pushed the door open, indicating for her to step through.
I looked up as if I hadn't caught the entire conversation in the hallway. Charlie probably knew how good my hearing was and wouldn't be surprised with my knowledge of their tête-à-tête. Hefting up the book I held in my hands, I asked, "Can I borrow this? And any other books like it?"
"Of course, Bella. I have a couple of other books I'd like to suggest for you to take with you over the weekend." Joy said with a smile on her face. She quickly gathered a couple of books from around the room to add them to a pile already stacked on the table. "These will be perfect for vocabulary building."
I covertly watched both Charlie and Joy as they finished up their conversation, hiding behind both the picture book and my hair. I didn't have to wait long, Joy excusing herself with a hand on Charlie's arm. When I was sure of her being out of hearing range, I teased, "Someone likes you!"
Red suffused Charlie's face as he spluttered, "What? That- Huh- That can't be true!"
"It was all in your body language. She totally has the hots for you, and if what I read could be right you like her, too." I replied with a grin.
"Um, no, if anything it was familial affection. She's my cousin's widow. Quil and I were quite close when he was alive." Charlie explained.
"Yeah, that may be true, but she likes you likes you. You know - ready and willing to have your babies - likes you. Are you going to make me stay an only child for the rest of my life?" I asked.
"What?" The incredulous tone in his voice put his tone up an octave.
"She's still fertile, I can smell it. And you'll be able to reproduce for quite some time now." I said. "Don't you want to give me a baby brother or sister for my birthday? I haven't gotten a present from you for fourteen years. We can wrap this up as one big, fourteen years worth of presents - present, hopefully in time for my birthday next year."
Charlie choked as the blood drained out of his face.
"Your face!" I laughed as I pointed at him. "Geeze, Dad, I don't need a brother or sister that badly."
A sigh issued from his mouth as I continued on. "But, seriously Dad, Joy likes you. And you like her. If you two were in the Clan, you'd have been obligated to take her on as your mate since there's no blood tie. She is your cousin's widow."
A bit of color leached back into Charlie's face as he stammered a bit. "Uh, I don't - I don't rightly know that I'm up for that. I was in love with your Momma."
"Momma's gone." I said solemnly. "She's never coming back. And she would have been the first one to tell you that you should move on and be happy. If you can find Home and be happy with someone else, you should. Do you like her?"
"Uh- Bells, should we really be discussing this?" Charlie whined a bit.
"Do you like her?" I asked sternly.
"Yeah. I do Bells." Charlie said shortly, red suffusing his face as his heel tried to make a hole in the ground.
"Then take her some fish. Or whatever the human equivalent is." I said simply.
"Date, Bells. We ask people out on a date." Charlie answered.
"Do that then. Bet you she won't say no." I smiled. The sounds of pounding footsteps echoed in the halls faintly, slowly getting louder as they got closer and closer. The door banged open and Seth stood there, panting heavily.
"Bells, there's a killer whale on the beach again!" He said as he tried to pull air into his laboring lungs.
"Crap. It's probably Shipa. He get's impatient." I said before grabbing the books off the table and hurrying towards the door. "You coming, Dad?"
"Yeah, I'll drop you off, but then I'm heading over to Billy's. I'll send Jake and have him bring you over when you're done with the Clan." Charlie answered.
We made quick time to the beach where Kwala had been beached yesterday, and sure enough, Shipa was there in his gigantic, fat-headed, glory. He wasn't completely out of the water, just in the shallows. Younger males were very competitive in their hunting, sometimes beaching themselves to get to their prey and then shimmying back to the ocean with them. Shipa's expertise in this maneuver was what lead him to 'beach' himself now, apparently to get my attention. There were a couple of other Quileutes on the beach, probably worried that Shipa couldn't get himself back out to sea.
"You just couldn't wait for me to come to you could you?" I asked in Quileute trying to test out a theory.
Shipa spit out a mouth full of water at me, cackling just before answering. "Of course. We grow impatient to learn news. Why do I smell blood?"
"I cut myself. See?" I answered, stretching my hand out so that he could see my hand.
"You're sewn up just like mother." He said.
"Apparently it's quite common among ground walkers." I answered. The smell of Home wrapped around me as Jake's soothing heat enveloped me, his arms encircling my midriff. I leaned back into him and breathed in deeply.
"Oh, well does that mean you can't come out? Mother would like to see you." Shipa asked.
"I'm not sure, I'd have to ask Sue." I answered.
"Ask, I'll be here."
I turned to Seth, who was still on the beach and asked, "Is your mom home?"
"Yeah, she got home an hour ago. Has some stuff for you." Seth answered.
"Let's head there then." I said as I grabbed Jake's hand, reluctant to lose contact with him, even for a little while. We had been separated for too long, at least to me.
"Why don't I just call her?" Seth asked.
"Call her?" I asked as Seth pulled out a small device.
"It's a phone, Bells." Jake said as Seth held the phone up to his ear. "Why could I understand the whale this time?"
"I kinda figured you would. I spoke to him in Quileute, he answered in his version. It's very similar to what you speak. You were listening for it since I told you that whale's sing in Quileute. Very different from clicking which is what we were speaking in yesterday." I answered, hoping my explanation was understood. His nod was enough to know that the idea was gotten across.
Seth hung up the phone and joined back in the conversation, "She said you can't get the stitches wet for another couple of days. No swimming for you."
"Shipa, I can't get my hand wet for another couple of days. Want to swim me out?" I asked.
"Swim you out?" Jake asked.
"Yeah, I'll ride topside, that way the Clan can see that I'm alright." I answered.
"And you're not going to fall in the water?" Jake asked skeptical.
"You could always come with me." I suggested, knowing that the extra weight wouldn't make much of a difference to Shipa since I rode topside in Selkie form as well as human.
"You sure?" Jake asked turning towards Shipa.
"Of course, young wolf. I would be proud to carry my sister and her suitor." Shipa answered with another cackling laugh. I dug my toe into the ground staring at the small hole it was making.
"Suitor?" Jake asked.
"Sure, Kwala is planning on making arrangements with your chief as soon as she's healed up. Probably a couple of weeks." Shipa informed Jake as my face burned with embarrassment. Pretty sure my face was red as a tomato, I kept my attention on the slight trough I was making in the sand.
"Oh really," Jake said as he jiggled my elbow. "You got anything to say about this?"
"Only that Kwala knows how much I lo- like you, and wanted to make sure that I stayed where I was comfortable." I said, hoping that Jake wouldn't catch on to my slip. From the way the grin split his face, I was pretty sure he caught it. "Come on, let's get going."
"Alright, Bells, whatever you say." Jake said.
Shipa quickly shimmied so that he was parallel to the shore line. I directed Jake to pick me up and place me on Shipa's back so that I was straddling him behind his blowhole. Patting the surface behind me, indicating that Jake should sit there, Shipa started to writhe his way out to the ocean. Jake jumped up quickly and I leaned into him, letting his heat soak into my back as our legs dangled into the cool ocean.
The swim out was quick, as was the conversation with Kwala and the rest of the Clan. Jake had no problems speaking with Kwala just as he had with Shipa. We discussed the legends that the Clan did not know, adding them to their own histories of the Quileute people. Kwala was glad to hear of the welcome acceptance I had received from the Quileute people as well as my dad.
Just before Shipa left to take us back to shore, Tidikats, one of the young whales who always wanted to play with me, swam up and lightly nipped at my toes. Leaning over to pet his little head, Jake grabbed my hips to keep me from falling into the water. I promised to come out and see him as soon as I was healed up and we could play tag.
As Shipa swam us back, Jake commented, "You know, I remember Sue putting glue on one of my cuts back before I shifted. It was waterproof so I didn't have to worry about getting it wet. Maybe she could switch out the stitches for the glue, that way you can go play with Tidikats sooner, rather than later. I saw the longing on your face when he swam up and asked you to play."
"Really? They make glue that can glue ground walkers back together?" I asked.
"People, Bells, you gotta get used to saying people." Jake said with a smirk.
XOX
After kissing Shipa on his snout and sending him on his way, Jake and I headed towards his home. The beach had emptied of people when we got back and the roads were quiet as we walked the short distance.
Charlie, Billy, and Sam were sitting outside on the porch in the weak spring sunlight, apparently waiting for us to make an appearance. Sam was the first to break the heavy silence, "Jake, man, we gotta go. The Cullens want a meeting."
"Alright. We going as pack?" Jake asked, escorting me up onto the porch.
"Yeah, but they've got a condition. One you're not going to like." Sam said preparing Jake for the news.
"What is it?" Jake said, tension stiffening his shoulders.
"They want us to bring Bella." Sam said with reluctance.