Jacob POV
I reached behind the chair where Bella sat and pulled out a small package wrapped in newspaper. Handing it to Bella I said, "For you two later – just a little treat from me."
Knowing Edward would try to read my mind, I began singing the National Anthem as I handed her the package. I would have to again thank Alice for teaching me that trick. I turned around and swatted Nessie lightly on the head with the magazine, saying, "Let's go."
She leapt off the chair running through the door heading outside. I heard Edward tell Bella that he would see her at Charlie's house later, and turned to grin at her as she closed the door to the cottage.
"I didn't bring the car over to Carlisle and Esme's. I figured it would be just as easy to run back to my house. I left the basket with the breakfast stuff there. I thought we could go to the beach this morning and hang out with the old folks before meeting Edward at your dad's."
"Jacob, one day Billy is going to hit you upside the head with a board, and all I am going to do is sit there and laugh," Bella replied, grinning at me.
I went behind a tree, tossing her my clothes before phasing. Nessie launched herself onto my shoulders and the three of us took off toward La Push. I glanced to my side to see Bella running along with me, her hair streaming back with the wind. As much as I would hate to admit it, her new life did agree with her.
Hey Jake, where are you man? I heard Seth's voice in my head.
Heading that way, what's up?
Quil and I are sitting here with your dad. There's this humongous package on your front porch and we're dying to know what is in it. Quil suggested we just tear into it and apologize later, but I talked him into letting me phase so I could see where you were.
Will be there in a few...taking my girls to the beach for breakfast and I have to stop by on the way.
As Bella and I continued to speed through the forest, I could hear Nessie giggling with excitement. She wasn't quite as fast as Bella and I, and probably never would be if she was like Nahuel. She enjoyed getting to ride on my back at this speed. Emmett teased her, of course - telling her to keep her mouth shut so that she wouldn't get bugs in her teeth.
Just before breaking through the forest line I stopped, letting Nessie get down. Stepping behind a tree to change back to human I reached my hand out for Bella to hand me my clothes. There were very few drawbacks to being a wolf, but destruction of clothes was one of them.
As we walked down the path to the house, I noticed my dad had rolled his wheelchair out on the front porch. Quil and Seth were sitting on the steps flanking a very large package that sat just to the side of the door.
"The truck just delivered it a few minutes ago," Seth said. Excitement was evident in his voice and on his face.
Quil and my dad sat surrounding the huge box with similar expressions. They reminded me of those cartoon vultures circling the man dying in the desert. I thought about waiting to open the box until this evening just to mess with them, but decided I was too curious myself to make it that long. I lifted Nessie over Vulture #1 and Vulture #2 putting her on the porch. Bella sat on the bottom step holding my gift to her and Edward in her lap.
I reached to the top of the box and pulled it open. Looking down, I saw a red metal top to what appeared to be a chest. The shipping box was constructed to be cut with a packing knife down the middle but I took the flimsy material between my hands and ripped it. Sitting in the box was a red Snap On tool chest.
Damn! They had obviously delivered to the wrong house. For that matter, they had delivered to the wrong neighborhood, as I couldn't imagine anyone around here spending that kind of money. Wait… that kind of money…I looked to Bella suspiciously but she just shrugged her shoulders. Even as a vampire she couldn't lie well, so I knew she hadn't had anything to do with this.
I grabbed the box and looked at the label to find out who I needed to call ... Huh?… there in plain English … Jacob Black.
I reached my hand up slowly, almost reverently…afraid to touch it…afraid it might disappear. Then a tell-tale giggle drew my gaze. Nessie…
"Aunt Rose helped me pick it out. She said she recently came to the understanding that you needed a good set of tools."
I glanced sideways at Bella wondering if she had become aware of my and Rose's little project. Obviously not, from the look on her face. I turned back to Nessie.
"You got me this?" I asked, finally finding the voice.
"For Valentine's Day."
"Nessie, I don't know…"
"Jake, I won a bet against Emmett about the last basketball game. He was so sure that he would win that he made a high stakes bet. I won fair and square. And I decided I wanted to get you something nice. Rose made the suggestion, because you know I don't know anything about tools. I'm waiting for March Madness, perhaps I can rack up some other stuff."
I looked to Bella again, and it wasn't hard to decipher the look she was giving me. If I took away Nessie's joy of giving, Bella was going to hand me my butt on a platter.
Seth jumped up stating, "Lift it up and I will pull the box out from under it."
Quil snickered as I lifted the red chest. "It took four of the guys to take it off the lift onto the porch. It must be full of stuff."
Sure 'nuff - as soon as it was clear of the packaging and was sitting on the porch I began pulling drawers out. This was the stuff of any man's dreams. Row after row of mechanical goodies…stuff for working on the car and the motorcycle as well. I was gonna kiss that blond headed leech…well if I could hold my breath long enough.
I did do what I could at the moment for the person responsible. I leaped over to Nessie, pulling her off my dad's lap, and spun her in the air. Our excitement caused the others to start laughing.
"Okay children calm down before you pee on yourselves," came Quil's brilliant response.
I realized I had been jumping up and down just like a little girl…didn't care though…this was seriously the best gift I had ever been given. The motorcycle Bella gave me had now been bumped to second place. Sorry, Bells.
Quil, Seth, and I took our time looking through everything. Every once in a while Nessie would reach out from my arms and grab a particular item putting her other hand to my face to ask about its purpose. I was totally pumped.
It took my father clearing his throat for the second time before I came around to reality.
"Didn't you have plans for this morning?" he reminded me.
"Sorry Bella…-" I glanced to her, embarrassed "- kinda lost myself there for a minute."
"More like an hour," she responded, but her smile made me realize she was okay.
I glanced over to the chest. I couldn't leave my baby out here, but I wondered if Bella would get pissed if I took the time to move it.
"Don't worry Jake. Quil and I will take it to the shed for you," Seth said, clearly understanding my dilemma.
Bella laughed at the expression on my face. "It will still be here when you get back Jake."
Placing Nessie on the porch, I went in to get Nessie's present and the basket that Rachel had helped me pack and we headed to the beach. Nessie ran ahead of Bella and I, wading into the waves coming in. Bella and I went to sit on our tree and silently watched Nessie playing. Bella reached over and squeezed my hand.
"Ever imagine we would sit here like this again?" Bella asked.
"Well, yes and no. I imagined us here like this, just not with Edward's kid." I smiled, but also felt a little embarrassed at the same time.
"Yeah, I guess you are right."
I didn't have to explain, Bella knew. Things had worked out just like they were supposed to for both of us.
"Go ahead and eat. I know you are starving. It has probably been, what, a whole two hours since you ate?" Bella stated, rolling her eyes.
Smart mouth…but it was true I was starving. I pulled the breakfast sandwiches out that Rachel had made me, and began to devour them while Bella laughed. Nessie came over as I was finishing and plopped in Bella's lap.
I pulled a small wrapped present out of the basket and handed it to her.
"Your Valentine's Day gift. Not quite as big as you got me, but I hope you like it."
She ripped into the packaging and uncovered a leather journal. Inside were the legends of my people dictated onto paper by Emily. I had begged her to reproduce her documentation for me, and I owed her several large favors for doing it for so quickly.
Nessie had shown great interest in the legends. The stories about Kaheleha, Taha Aki, and the third wife that Bella had heard, what felt like a lifetime ago. But also included were the stories about Raven the trickster and the Quileute Monsters. I had attempted at the beginning of each chapter to recreate the traditional art.
"I know it isn't a bound, professional copy, but…"
She interrupted me hugging it to her chest with one hand while her other flashed to my face.
Jake it is perfect. I couldn't imagine a better gift.
"Jake, truly it is amazing," Bella said, at the same time.
I smiled realizing that they were being truthful.
"SO…the plan is to meet Edward at your dad's for lunch, and then you are secreting him on a plane to Chicago…correct?"
"Yep," she responded.
"Make sure you give him that present when you get to Chicago."
"Will do," she promised.
"Well let's get started with the rest of the morning so that we don't keep Mr. Happy waiting."
Later that afternoon …
Nessie and I drove up to the Cullen house after dropping Leah and Seth off at the reservation. Sue and Charlie were headed to Hawaii for their honeymoon, and Bella and Edward were off to Chicago. Nessie and I had packed our gifts to everyone in the car and headed over for our first Valentine's Day experience. Nessie had filled me in on the details of what to expect, but with her crazy family I had learned that anything could happen.
Entering the house was like entering a circus. Alice was running around attempting to organize the piles of presents. Henry crawled along behind her disrupting the perfect stacks. Emmett and Jasper laughed, offering no help until Rosalie smacked them both on the back of the heads. I quickly went over to the area and distributed our gifts. Nessie flew over to Henry and sat down in the floor with him, so I did what any self respecting wolf would do…I went to the kitchen to see what Esme had prepared for the day.
Esme smiled at me as I came in already heading for the plates she had piled full of sandwich stuff. Realizing my manners I quickly detoured just before reaching the counter and went over to kiss her forehead.
"Jacob, is Seth coming as well?" she asked.
"Nope…he's helping Leah with her final packing," I said as I piled two slices of bread full of meat, cheese, and other trimmings and shoved the finishing slices of bread on top.
I chowed down as Esme continued to assemble a casserole, humming as she worked.
She noticed me watching her and grinned. "I never realized how much I would like to cook again. It is good to have you and Seth around to taste my creations."
"Okay everyone, let's get started." We heard Alice call from living room.
"Jacob, be prepared. This can get a little rambunctious at times, " Esme warned as she put the dish in the oven, set the timer, and wiped her hands.
The group had already claimed seats as I followed Esme into the living room, swallowing the last bite of grub and began washing it down with milk. Nessie had saved me a seat on the couch with her. Rose liked to make sure I had to sit on the floor, so as I passed her and Emmett I made sure to trail the large glass of milk close to her face to aggravate her.
Her perfect little nose twitched.
Alice began. "Okay, Nessie tells me she has already explained the rules to Jacob, so we don't have to review those. Carlisle has the numbers for the couples to choose and for once, thanks to Jake and Nessie, I can't tell you who is first. So we will have to do it the old fashioned way and pick a number."
Carlisle went around to each pairing, and numbers were drawn. True to my luck, Nessie drew the number one. This could either be really bad, or really good. Bad in that they would have tons of energy to annoy me, or good in that I could get it over fairly quickly and enjoy the show.
"Jake you go first," Nessie indicated pointing to the pile in front of me.
The first present I picked up was wrapped in a hospital gown. If the information Nessie had told me was accurate, I would guess this one came from Carlisle. I tore through the paper and found a box labeled: Anti-Venom kit - "The mini vacuum pump is designed to gently and painlessly extract poison from bites and stings to reduce the pain, itching or allergic reaction that inevitably ensues – just push the plunger down for 20-90 seconds."
Flipping the box over I saw that Carlisle had taken the time to cut out a picture of Count Chocula and tape it over the snake. I looked up to Carlisle attempting not to grin. Anti-Venom my butt. The best defense against the animal that would dare bite me was to simply tear it to pieces.
"I have to admit Jacob, I have been attempting to come up with a way for you to carry that with you at all times." He stated, looking to me with his eyebrow raised, challenging me for a comeback. I had learned not to underestimate the Doc from the football game.
"Maybe we could get him one of those brandy barrels like Saint Bernards use to wear - cut off the end you know and attach a door," Emmett suggested with a smirk on his face.
"A little carry satchel that he can hold between his teeth?" Esme added.
Alice was bouncing up and down, I assumed from excitement, but before she could add anything ...
"OK, OK…enough," I interrupted. I could see that line going on forever.
I picked up the next package. It was in a Newton's Olympic Outfitters bag and had a note attached. Opening the note I recognized Bella's handwriting.
Jake, Sorry I can't be there to enjoy with you.
Untying the string at the top of the bag I reached in to pull out a kids Indian Chief Head Dress and Peace Pipe. The headdress had bright blue and red feathers with a white band that would run across the forehead. Bella had taken a black marker and on the white band she had added the words: Chief Jacob.
"Now that's funny," Emmett laughed, clearly not caring whether or not he won. He jumped up and began humming the Atlanta Braves chant putting one hand across his mouth and using the other to do the Tomahawk chop. Rose's lips twitched, but she grabbed his leg as he passed close to her dragging him back down on to the seat they had been sharing.
Jasper looked over to Emmett and raised his palm flat in the air. "HOW!"
Emmett roared, and Henry followed.
I looked quickly to see if I could catch anyone else. They were too good. I could see that Alice was struggling, but she had contained whatever reaction she had to Jasper before I could catch her. Carlisle was looking down rubbing his eyes.
That's okay….we still had their presents to go.
Figuring I would get Emmett's present out of the way, I looked for anything sports related. It wasn't difficult, I saw the jock strap box clearly in the middle of the pile.
"Very original Emmett, wouldn't have seen that one coming from you," I said, reaching for it.
"Don't ever trust Emmett's boxes Jake, things are rarely as they seem," Jasper indicated.
I opened the box and shook the contents into my lap. It was a large tube of Ben Gay.
"For when Dr. Grandpa kicks your butt again," he snickered earning a pillow to the head from Carlisle.
"I could have gotten a different brand, but you know with he and Edward that one seemed more appropriate."
Rosalie gulped loudly in an obvious attempt to hold back laughter.
"Well there has to be some logical explanation for all the 'waiting' ," he added.
I looked sideways to see if Nessie had caught on, but she seemed unconcerned. I glared at Emmett. He raised his hand palm up, bending his fingers inward several times, inviting a good brawl.
"BOYS!" Esme scolded.
Nessie placed a present in my hand distracting me, and I realized she may not have been as unaware as I thought. I looked down to see a small Christmas stocking with a dog paw on the front of it.
I felt her hand on my chin. From me, and no it isn't the present. That's inside. She grinned.
Reaching inside, I pulled out a black leather dog collar with spikes. It was only big enough to fit around a small dog's neck. Attached were two tags. Actually, one was more a tag and the other was a charm. The charm was a black bone studded with rhinestones. The other was a heart tag. It read:
"Jake"
Please call if found:
Nessie Cullen
360-867-5309
She took the item out of my hand and quickly attached it around my wrist. Rosalie began snorting, clearly her mind was thinking quicker than mine.
"Nessie, how brilliant! When he phases it will ride nicely against his paw - and it is just big enough to survive the process."
Rosalie threw her head back and her laughter echoed throughout the room. Nessie's eyes challenged me to take off the damn thing. Traitor! I was going to find a way to make her wear my present as well - just to pay her back.
"I helped Nessie pick out the Bling bone. Nothing is too good for her sweetheart," Alice narrowed her eyes waiting for my challenge.
Carlisle and Esme's eyes were bright with unshed humor, but they so far seemed to be the ones holding it together the best. Jasper looked in pain - huh - forgot for a minute that he feels everything the others are feeling. I wondered how I could mess with him.
Obviously feeling my challenge he quirked a grin at me.
I needed to regroup and figured that Esme would be the kindest of them all - although I wasn't entirely sure of that considering her satchel comment.
"Esme which particular gift is yours?" I questioned.
She smiled gently and pointed to a gift in fabric.
Untying the ribbon I was relieved to feel that whatever was inside was most likely clothing. I mean what could she get clothes wise that would be embarrassing?
I was reminded as the item fell into my lap of the old saying "Don't speak too soon."
Esme had found a white T-shirt that had in bold letters across the front: TEEN WOLF
Behind the words was an image of a werewolf face with sharp claws ripping through the shirt. The pack would crucify me if I wore this shirt. Sam would probably blab on about keeping everything secret, but the rest of the guys would just find it incredibly funny. I would never live it down. It was going to be bad enough if I couldn't figure out a way to get the collar off my wrist without hurting Nessie's feelings.
"You are too young dear to remember the movie, but you might find you relate to the character's life a little. Perhaps I should have bought you the movie as well," she said gently.
I wasn't buying the whole sweet motherly stuff…she was as devious as the rest of them.
Rosalie scooted a square box over towards me with her foot. I had come to know her well enough, over the last month, to know she was getting ready to enjoy the show. She had already lost the bet, so she wouldn't be holding back.
I unwrapped the paper and found what was described on the box as the Mossman Flea Circus: Complete with trapeze, dumbells, flea march, and firing cannon.
"I figured if they had somewhere else to go that we wouldn't get infested over here," she smiled innocently.
I felt the familiar heat rush up my neck. NO! I would not let her get to me. She continued to smile obviously not needing to be her 'touchy-feely' brother to realize she had stuck a nerve.
"You know what the Blonde and the flea have in common?" I asked.
No one took the bait.
"They both suck."
Rose snorted lifting her hands at me. She wiggled her fingers and said, "OOOH!"
Alice had continued to bounce throughout the gifts and finally reached out to the last three presents grabbing a large box and tossing it to me.
"Mine next! Mine next!"
She had taken brown paper bags and taped them together around the box. Snatching the paper off the box, I saw a large dog on the side. It had some type of backpack thing across its back. The label read Mountainsmith Dog Pack.
"Backpackers use them for their dogs to carry their own gear. I thought it was perfect for you, Jake. We just have to figure out how to train you to get it on once you phase. That way, you can stuff all your gear into it before phasing and quit embarrassing everyone."
She flew over to me snatching it out of my hands and pieces of the box went flying across the room. Within a second she was packing everything the Cullens had given me so far into the compartments.
Before my amazed eyes and ears, she continued, "I bought this particular brand because I thought the red would compliment your coat. I am still a little worried about what to do with the bottom buckles."
Jasper grabbed her up into his lap in a strategic maneuver to save his mate, sensing the retribution I was planning. In an attempt to distract me he nodded toward what must be his gift.
"Why don't you go ahead and open mine."
Tearing into the bag, I found a small mask and bright green cloth. It was one of those Halloween costumes people buy for their dogs. It was Count Von Count from Sesame Street. The mask was the top portion of his head, and the green cloth was a cape with numbers all over it.
"Jacob, being able to sense people's emotions the way I do I often can decipher their innermost fantasies. Usually people aren't even aware of what is the true desire of their hearts. I thought I would help you along a little - as it's the most a brother can do."
Esme gasped as she sensed the tumble coming. Alice leaped in the air to avoid the scuffle and I turned the chair they had been sitting in over when I made contact with his body. The little twerp was laughing the whole time. We traded a few good punches before Esme's voice broke through the noise.
"Boys if anything gets broken, there will be a price to pay. Jacob, that casserole can come out of the stove right now, and Jasper, I will personally guarantee Carlisle takes the keys to the motorcycle for at least a month."
We dusted ourselves off while Emmett and Rosalie continued to chuckle.
Alice politely said, "Well…well…this game is certainly eliminating the competition fast. Jasper is off the list as well."
I had one more present left. It was obviously from Edward. It was wrapped in aluminum foil and strangely looked like an aluminum foil box. After unwrapping the foil off the box, I found just that - an box of aluminum foil with a letter addressed to me wrapped around it with a rubber band.
The outside of the letter read:
Jacob, Please follow the instructions inside. I concluded this would alleviate your concerns with the pack and keep me sane at the same time. Edward
Opening the letter, I saw explicit printed directions for building what was called an Aluminum Foil Deflector Beanie. The top paragraph read:
A simple, inexpensive way to build head ware that can shield your brain from mind control. It protects from incoming signals, but also blocks any form of brain scanning and mind reading…keeping the secrets in your head truly secret.
I was speechless. Nessie took the paper from my hands and began reading it to the family.
"Hey Jake, you could have used this to shield your 'innermost fantasies' from Jasper," Emmett taunted, after she had finished.
Carlisle smiled over to me, and Esme patted my head as she passed by having indicated she was going to check on the casserole. She whispered, "I am proud of you Jacob, only one scuffle. That is probably a record for a first timer."
I stayed silent, feeling like I had just been ran over by a Mack truck.
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For those interested - Website links for Jacob's gift can be found on my profile.
Also, I have a list of ideas for gifts - but would welcome any ideas/suggestions for the remaining Cullens. Please PM me.