Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for the thing you don't recognize! Song credit to Green Day

Thanks again for your reviews! This chapter, I feel, finally starts to reveal some pieces of the puzzle; although it doesn't answer a lot of the questions I've been getting. For the answers to the questions you've been asking you'll have to keep reading, I'll try not to drag out the suspense too long :)

"Does the pain weigh out the price?

And you look for a place to hide.

Did someone break your heart inside?

You're in ruins."

21 Guns

After two weeks working for Paul I was proud of what I had accomplished inside his home. Not only did I manage Grace during the day which included feedings, diaper changes, play time, and nap time, but I also managed to straighten up the whole downstairs portion of the house. I really had no idea what the upstairs looked like because the room Grace occupied was right at the top of the stairs and I had never taken the time to explore the other rooms on the floor…yet.

But the downstairs was different. Paul had said he wanted organization, and while I had managed that with his finances easily, I had expanded that idea to his home. At first he didn't notice, but when he realized that the kitchen was all moved around he was less than pleased, but he kept his mouth shut. And then when I reorganized his movie collection in alphabetical order he merely shot me a look the next day as if to say I was some sort of organizing freak.

Today had been a stimulating day of billing Mrs. Crane for her porch and sending checks to his two employees. So besides doing my usual with Grace I had had time on my hands for more organization.

Grace and I were on the floor with building blocks when Paul walked in the door at three thirty and immediately walked over to his desk.

"Did you have a nice day?" I asked pleasantly.

He grunted in reply as he rifled through his newly organized desk.

"What are you looking for? Maybe I can help."

"You've obviously done enough help! I can't find a damn thing! It was right here this morning!"

"What are you yelling about now?" I rolled my eyes as I picked Grace up and put her in the play pin; it didn't take a genius to figure out what was probably going to happen in the next few minutes between Paul and me.

"Where the hell is my planner woman?!"

I marched over to the desk and thrust my finger angrily at the top drawer of his desk. I crossed my arms as he opened the drawer and pulled the planner out. He then turned to me; his eyes dark with annoyance and anger.

"I didn't say anything when you decided to reorganize my whole kitchen, and I bit my tongue when you alphabetized all my movies, including my porn. But this is too much woman!"

"You hired me to organize!"

"Not my whole damn house!"

"Technically your desk is a space I can organize given that you run your business from it." I said with a self satisfied smirk for having thought of that argument.

He huffed, "I'll give you that, but my porn? Next thing I know you'll be in my room rifling through my underwear drawer."

"Dream on, Paul. And don't you think it's time for you to get rid of the porn now that there is a child in this house?"

"She's barely even a year old."

"So you're telling me that you can sit here on the couch and jerk off while your niece is upstairs sleeping?"

"A man has needs."

"Oh my gosh, I'm going."

"Yeah, well, don't come back."

I sucked in a breath.

"Fine! See if I care; you're only hurting Grace."

I marched out of the house before he could get the last word; another trait that I knew my Mom would have pointed out, had she been here, with that tone of disgust whenever something reminded her of Adam Harrison. I rolled my eyes at the thought; I liked to have the last word that didn't make me a beast.

Now that I was walking towards Seth and Cady's I realized that I didn't want them to have the satisfaction in knowing that Paul and I had had another blow out. It was obvious to me, especially after Embry's statement a few weeks ago, that the two of us were going to be a prime source of entertainment for the people of La Push this summer.

So if I wanted to avoid their smug looks that meant that I needed to do something until I calmed down and since I was walking my options were limited. A cool breeze stirred my hair off of my shoulders and a waft of salty air hit my nose. The ocean…I could go down to the ocean for a little while.

The last time I had been at the beach it had been nighttime, meaning that I had only been able to hear the sound of waves, but today I was able to actually see the Pacific Ocean for the first time. Growing up in the Midwest, Michigan in particular, had severely limited my ocean exposure. Ask me most anything about the Great Lakes and I could tell you; I'd been in almost every one of them. But I'd only been to the ocean once in North Carolina; a trip that we had to beg Mom to take us on. We'd saved for two years and finally when we were fourteen the three of us drove all the way to the Outer Banks and stayed in a house near the beach for a week.

It had been the best vacation of our lives and even now it was hard to believe that anything could surpass it. For that one week the three of us had felt whole again; surrounded by the smell of the Atlantic Ocean and the feel of the summer sun beating down on us. We had come back to Michigan with a car full of sand and with skin full of burns and freckles, but it had been worth it.

It was sad for me to think that the closest I had ever felt to my Mother was that week in North Carolina where she had been carefree and truly happy even if for such a short time. Back in the real word there was too much that got in the way; we had too much Harrison in us, we left her to go to college, and now she was losing Cady to Seth. I loved my Mom more than anything, but when she made those comments a part of me hated her. And an even bigger part of me hated him for making her that way.

I wiped a tear away from my face as I stared out at the ocean. The picture before me was completely different from what I had seen in North Carolina. It had been the perfect beach setting there, but here the sun was hidden behind some clouds and the only sound to be heard was the roar of the ocean hitting the cliffs; there definitely was no laughter on this beach.

I was absorbed in my musings so I didn't hear footsteps behind me until a hand settled on my shoulder. I jumped before I turned around to face the intruder. It was Paul, with Grace strapped to his chest in one of those things I saw parents put their kids in when they went to the zoo or the mall.

"Sadie I'm—where you crying?"

I immediately wiped my eyes, "No, something blew into my eye."

He looked as if he didn't believe me, but he wisely kept his mouth shut for once.

"What were you going to say?" I asked, no longer feeling angry at him at all.

There were more important things than being insulted by this man; if you could really call the things he said to me insults.

"I'm sorry. As usual I overreacted. However, if you get it in your head to organize something again ask me first unless it's for the business."

"Agreed."

"And," He began and looked down awkwardly at the sand before his eyes rose to meet mine again, "I've decided to give my porn to Embry."

"You really don't have to; you have needs. I just wouldn't advise having it in your living room."

He shook his head, "No, I need to just get rid of it. In a few years she'll be walking and talking and I don't want her finding that stuff."

"That's very mature of you, Paul."

"I have my moments." He said with a small smile. "Now I'm sure nothing would make Grace happier than if I was to completely apologize by taking you out to dinner."

"Well, that sounds good to me."

A half hour later I found myself situated in a booth with Paul and Grace at Seth's restaurant in town. Seth wasn't there, but his Mother and Jared's wife, Kim, were there taking orders. Grace was happy to observe from her high chair at the end of the table as everyone went about their business in the place. Every so often she'd pick up one of her cheerios and stick it in her mouth sucking on it until it was mush, which sometimes she decided to spit out on the tray. She may be cute, but she was gross.

"So tell me more about Hunter." I urged, wanting to know about the uncle that hadn't contributed anything to Grace since her parent's death. "He sure has it easy."

"It's not like that, Sadie. He'll be here just as soon as he's finished with his dissertation, which won't be long now."

"What's his dissertation?" I asked curiously.

"Not sure, but it's for psychology; I always knew that kid would be a shrink." Paul replied with the hint of a smile playing about his lips. "When I first met Hunter I was twenty and he was just an eighteen year old kid from the outskirts of the rez. I'm still not sure how our families managed to live on the same reservation and not really know each other until Holly started to date Ryan."

"Was Holly your sister?" I asked gently; I didn't want him to stop telling me about them and I feared that if I asked too many questions he would.

"Yeah, and Ryan was Hunter's older brother. Anyway, it seemed like any time I saw that kid he was asking us questions about how we felt about things and telling us facts about what part of our brains controlled emotions and what not." He laughed. "That's why I wasn't surprised that he became a psychology major at school and now that he's almost done with Graduate school I can't force him to come help me when he's waited all of his life to finish this."

"I understand." I nodded. "How old is he now?"

"Twenty five."

"So you're twenty seven huh?" I grinned. "Closer to thirty than to twenty."

"Shut up, besides it's not like I've aged badly."

I rolled my eyes at his narcissism.

"How old are you?" He asked with a quirked brow.

"Don't you know how old Cady is?"

"Oh… yeah."

I shook my head with an amused smile on my face just as our food arrived. I was pleased; very pleased that he had opened up and told me just a little bit about his sister and brother in law. He hadn't told me much, but I wasn't expecting to have a complete heart and heart with him.

"So, where is your Dad? If you don't mind me asking."

My fry paused midway to my mouth, "I do mind actually, but I'll let you know anyway since you shared with me."

Paul nodded and waited while I put my fry back down and met his eyes again, "He left us. I don't want to go into details at the moment, but that about sums it up."

"He just up and left you guys? What kind of man does that?"

"I've been wondering the same thing for years."

"How long?"

"Look, I really don't want to say anymore about it."

"Alright, sorry."

The two of us turned our attention back to our plates and enjoyed the silence of eating for about ten minutes unit Paul spoke up again.

"Is that why you were so angry with me in the grocery store?"

"Yes."

"I'd never leave her or anyone like that…ever."

"I know you wouldn't, Paul."

* * *

"How the hell did you convince Paul to give up his porn collection? And to Embry?!"

I looked up from my book and up into the eyes of my future brother in law. He looked amused and confused at the same time and I found myself smiling back at him in return.

"I simply pointed out that there is a child in the house now."

"You had to have said more."

"Well, if you must know I asked him if he could really sit on the couch and jerk off while knowing his niece was upstairs sleeping."

"Nice."

"What about you? Any collection you should be getting rid of?" I asked with a quirked brow.

"Like I would have need for that with your sister around."

"You can leave now."

It was bad enough that the other night I had had the misfortune of needing to use the bathroom at one in the morning and had to hear just how much Seth did not need porn with my sister around. That right there was always an eye opener, especially at one in the morning. It had been hard for me to sleep after that, because I had been unable to banish the image of my sister sprawled out on a bed with—that was enough of that. I shuddered just at the memory.

"Just some advice, Seth. You guys should bring it down a bit at night if you don't want Mom on your case."

"Thanks for the advice; I'll keep it in mind tonight." He grinned wolfishly.

"Ass."

He flashed me another smile before he walked out of the house. Was that all these guys around here thought about? Sex? Their bodies definitely oozed sex, but that didn't mean they needed to watch pornos all the time and disgust their fiancé's sister with talk of sex. Well, at least there was never a dull moment.