Thanks to Imma Vampire, Birdee18 for the Beta work on this chapter!
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No copyright infringement is intended.
Chapter 3 – Wolf Girl
"Quil, what's you favite aminal?" Claire asked in her cute little three-year-old voice.
"Hum, I would have to say a wolf," I replied totally serious as I continued to color along side her.
"Like da big bad woff wiff da fwee piggies?" she asked, looking a bit confused.
"No, I only like nice wolves. Like your toy Quil wolf," I replied with a smile pointing to the chocolate brown stuffed wolf I had given her for her third birthday.
She got up from coloring and went to retrieve her favorite toy. "I love my Quil woff!" she said as she held her toy in her arms.
"And Quil loves you too, Claire." I was glad she had decided to name the wolf after me. I absolutely adored her, and I liked being able to have these little times with her. I glanced across the room and into the kitchen where Sarah was preparing a casserole for dinner.
She and Daniel never left me alone with Claire, at first and for that I was grateful. If they were always watching, I could never be accused of something I didn't do; if they felt I crossed the line of what they felt was appropriate, I could get feedback quickly. This had definitely made it easier to spend more time with Claire as with each visit they trusted me more and more. By the time her third birthday came around, they trusted me enough to let me take her on short trips around the reservation, just the two of us.
I waited for Sarah to look over to me to gauge her reaction to my statement of Quil loving Claire. I knew Claire would only think of her stuffed toy wolf, but I knew with the toy having my name, it could come across in more than one way. Sarah looked over to me and with a wide grin merely shook her head at me and rolled her eyes. She was aware of the fun I was having with this but knew it was harmless for little three-year-old Claire.
"So what are you going to be doing for Halloween?" I asked Sarah, knowing she must be working on something with it less than a month away.
"Skye has a Halloween carnival at her school, and the entire family is invited. Everyone going is required to dress in costume. Would you like to dress in costume and go to an elementary school carnival?" she asked hardly able to contain her laughter at my expense. Sarah knew that any other seventeen year old boy on the reservation would rather stand in front of the entire high school naked than be caught dressed in costume at the elementary school carnival. She also knew that I would never pass up the opportunity to be near Claire.
"Sure," I said trying to sound blasé about it, "I guess I can dig up a costume if you'd really like me to go to the carnival."
Sarah just laughed at my attempts, but Claire answered exactly as I would have hoped. Claire jumped up on her chair and shouted "Yay!" while clapping enthusiastically. How could I ever resist such a cute little angel?
"So Claire, what are you going to dress up as for Halloween? Are you going to be a shark?" I teased her, knowing full well she would never go in such a 'boy' costume.
"No." She smiled and shook her head side to side, her baby fine hair appearing to defy the effects of gravity.
"Hum, no shark. What about a princess? Are you going as a princess this year, Claire?"
Again she shook her head and said, "No." With that I heard a sharp intake of breath, and looked up to see Sarah with a slight look of panic on her face. I knew that Skye loved all things princess, and there were several princess costumes to choose from throughout the house.
"Well if you aren't going to be a princess, what are you going to be?" Sarah asked Claire probably hoping that Claire's active imagination wouldn't involve too much sewing in the short time left before the carnival. I could tell she had really been counting on Claire using one of the already on had princess costumes.
"Guess!" Claire said knowing full well she was in control and had us both wrapped around her finger.
"Do you want to be a flower?" I asked.
"No." She giggled
"How about a pumpkin?" I tried.
"No." She giggled even more.
"Do you want to be a Care Bear, Claire Bear?" Sarah asked.
"No." Claire then turned to her mom and with all the seriousness a three-year-old can muster she solemnly stated "Mommy, I not a Claiwe Beaw. I a woff guwl."
Sarah and I both burst out laughing at that! "Come on wolf girl, let's clean up the crayons and coloring books for nap time." I encouraged.
Claire gave me the cutest little baby pout ever saying, "I don't wanna. Quil, you do it?" she asked and tilted her head to the side looking up at me through her long thick eyelashes and then grinning to show her dimples. How does she do that? Most girls aren't so skilled until about 16 or 17 and here my little Claire can pull it off at three!
Fortunately Sarah was there to see my eyes start to glaze over as I reached for the box of crayons completely under Claire's spell. "Oh no you don't, you little vixen!" Sarah laughed, "No cleaning up, no stories before nap. You were coloring too, Claire. Do you really want Quil to clean it all up and miss out on Quil's turn for naptime stories?"
"No!" Claire exclaimed and hurriedly began to pick up crayons as fast as her clumsy little fingers would allow.
Gotta love the mom! I would never have been able to resist the combined pout, eyelashes and dimples. Sarah knew this too, fortunately Daniel, Sarah's and my arrangement of me mostly spending time with Claire with them around allowed it to be possible that Claire could have structure and discipline, and I hardly ever had to be the bad guy. I think the plan worked out well for everyone involved. We finished cleaning up the crayons and coloring books, and I replaced them on the shelf.
Taking Claire over to the couch, I asked her, "So my little wolf girl, what naptime story would you like today? Cinderella, The Three Bears, Hansel and Gretel?"
She shook her head and asked for my favorite, "Secwet woffs"
"You'd like me to tell you about the Sacred Legends of the Wolf Indians?"
"Yeah! Pwease!" Claire clapped excitedly before attempting to climb onto my lap for the story.
"Okay." I said as I lifted her onto my knee.
At first Claire's parents were extremely wary of any physical contact I had with Claire; but after a week where Claire had a really bad cold, they changed their minds. Claire called out my name almost constantly when they were trying to get her to sleep. On the third night, they had been trying to get Claire to go to sleep for hours. It was a little past midnight when they called me completely overwhelmed and asked me to come over. When they answered the door, they both looked like zombies and apologized for calling me at such a late hour. They took me into Claire's room, and she immediately reached up for me. I picked her up in my arms and went to the living room couch. I rested her on my chest rubbing her back in gentle circles while continuing to let my hand warm her back. Claire fell asleep within two minutes. Sarah and Daniel were both standing there in shock, amazed that I could do in two minutes what they had been unable to do in three days. I earned a lot of respect with them that night. They were both so exhausted that I suggested they get some sleep.
When they woke in the morning Claire and I had been in the exact same position in which they had left us. Claire had slept a good seven hours straight. Sarah asked jokingly if I was also available for naptime, and when I showed up for naptime I was able to get Claire to sleep without complaining within a few minutes. Sarah fought with Claire over naptime daily; apparently our little Claire never wanted to miss out on any of the action. When I was holding Claire, she focused on me and I on her, so she wasn't missing out on anything and was able to relax and go right to sleep. I was recruited every day I wasn't at school to come and help Claire with her nap.
Nap time had quickly become my favorite time with Claire. She would sit on my knee riveted to any story I would tell, and then curl up against my chest while I sang her the lullaby my Grandma sang to me when I was her age. Today Claire had asked for my favorite story to tell her. The legends of the Quileute tribe, the stories I referred to with Claire as the Sacred Legends of the Wolf Indians.
I deepened my voice as much as I could and, doing my best Billy Black impression, I began. "The Quileutes have been a small people from the beginning, and we are a small people still, but we have never disappeared. This is because there has always been magic in our blood." I always began word for word as Billy Black did. I wanted Claire to know and pay attention to the legends. To know they were true when she heard them from others. From this point I simplified my story to her understanding and to tell the latest adventures.
"Not very long ago the cold ones came back to our area. They were different from the other cold ones because they had golden-colored eyes. They drank the blood of animals, not the blood of people like the cold ones with the red eyes." I continued.
"Quil, does cold ones dwink woffs?" Claire asked, her eyes sad as if she were about to cry.
"Well Claire, some of the golden eyed cold ones do drink the blood of the wolves, but they are learning not to drink the blood of wolves." I answered seriously.
"Does their mommy say not to dwink the woffs?"
I had to chuckle at that one. "No, Claire baby," I said touching the tip of her nose, "A friend of the wolves named Bella joined with the golden eyed cold ones. She is a friend to the wolves and to the cold ones. She taught us to work together and fight the bad red eyed cold ones so that cute little girls would always be safe from the cold ones."
Claire sighed in relief. She loved the stories that included Bella the friend to the wolf. "Quil, was Bella a pwincess?"
"Why do you ask if Bella was a princess, Claire?" Out of the corner of my eye I could see Sarah walking forward towards us to hear the answer as well.
"Pwincesses awah good. Dey help and love people. Dey awah fwiends and like aminals. So if Bella helped-ed the cold ones and the woff to be fwiends, she hasta be a pwincess wight?" Claire's logic was so cute.
"How can I argue with that? It makes perfect sense to me!" I continued on "So princess Bella saved the wolves in La Push, and the wolves in La Push saved the people and we all get to live happily ever after!" I wrapped up like any good fairy tale.
"So, is my baby Claire ready for her nap yet?" Sarah asked from behind the couch.
"NO!" Claire cuddled into my chest, "Mowe stowy."
"More story what, Claire?" Sarah reminded her.
"Please?" Claire answered sweetly.
"Alright….Once upon a time there was a beautiful girl with black hair and the most beautiful brown eyes of any girl in the whole world." I began.
Claire squealed and clapped her hands. She knew when I began a story this way that she would be able to participate.
"I'll be back to get her in a little bit." Sarah chuckled and rolled her eyes in pretend exasperation at a story that was obviously going to rile Claire up more than calm her down.
"Now, this little girl lived in a very rainy place near the ocean. So to protect her from all of this rain, her mommy bought her a very adorable and very red raincoat. She would wear this raincoat when she would visit her aunt," I added.
"Now Claire, why does this little girl go to visit her aunt?" I asked to allow Claire her participation portion of the story.
"COOKIES!" Claire cried with glee.
"Okay, cookies. Good idea." I replied. She smiled a very smug little smile for a three-year-old.
"So, little red rainy hood would put on her coat, hold onto her mommy's hand and walk to her aunt's house for cookies."
"Claire, what does she find when she gets to her aunt's house?" I asked her.
"WOFFS!" she practically shouted in my ear.
"Oh, really?" I pretended surprise. "Well why would wolves be at her aunt's house?"
"Cause Aunt Emily makes da bestest cookies evah!"
"And all the wolves know this?" I asked.
"Uh huh."
I smiled at her and whispered, "You're right you know, you're very smart." She just giggled at me.
"So to recap, little red rainy hood would put on her coat, hold onto her mommy's hand and walk to her aunt's house for cookies, and all of the wolves would be there for cookies too. The reason for the wolves would know to go there is because Aunt Emily makes the best cookies ever, right?" I loved how we could Mad-Lib story time together so easily.
"Yeah," she answered with satisfaction.
"What happens to little red rainy hood when she goes into her Aunt Emily's house? Is she scared of the wolves? Does she get a cookie?" I led on with the story.
"She not scawed a cat. She a woff giwl." She almost rolled her eyes at me. "Yeah, she get a cookie! She at Aunt Emily's house!"
I smiled at her and asked, "Well with a house full of wolves, how is this little red rainy hood wolf girl able to find the cookies?"
"She find hewh Quil woff, and he give hewh a cookie cause he hewh pwinty woff." She smiled with utter satisfaction in herself.
I was amazed at her explanation. All I could do was finish off the story in complete agreement. "You are right, Claire, if little red rainy hood had an imprint wolf to take care of her, she would always get a cookie at her Aunt Emily's house no matter how many wolves were there eating all of Aunt Emily's food."
There it was in the innocent understanding of a three-year-old. Your imprint is the one who will always make sure you have a cookie.
Claire looked up at me and announced joyfully, "I know 'bout Haw-o-ween! I be wed wainy hood!"
I glanced over to Sarah and saw she had a big smile on her face over a costume that would obviously be easy to put together. I looked back to Claire and answered, "Claire, I think that's a great idea!" I paused for a second and asked Claire, "What should I be for Halloween?"
"A big woff." She smiled and then added, "wiff cookies."
Sarah and I both chuckled over Claire's attempts to be sly in order to get cookies, but all three of us knew it would work. "Okay Claire, time for your naptime song." I said and adjusted her in my arms.
I held Claire to my chest and gently swayed back and forth singing her the song my Grandma had sung to me as a child.
Go to sleep my Claire.
Close your dreamy eyes.
The lady moon is watching,
Throughout the darkening skies.
The little stars are peeping,
To see if you are sleeping.
Go to sleep my Claire.
Close your dreamy eyes.
Claire never made it through the entire song, her slow steady breathing letting me know she was asleep. I put her down on her toddler bed and tucked her under her quilt with her toy wolf still held in her arms. She was most definitely the sweetest angel on this earth.