AlphaBet(a)
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D is for Dad
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Sue smiled as Harry took the tubs of potato salad and coleslaw from her and held it into his side as he took her hand with the other. The mid-morning wind was soft and blew soundly around them, the path towards First Beach picnic area covered only by yellow leaves that crunched under their shoes as they walked.
Harry's hand was warm and calloused as Sue's sat snugly inside it. He'd always believed that you could tell a man's worth by the marks on his hands and the strength they perceived. His hands were scarred and scratched, his days as a labourer marking his skin in the most peculiar way. Slightly jagged scars from drills, smooth clean cuts from jigsaws, small specks of skin torn and healed leaving the calling card of his trade as a carpenter.
"Harry, you better be on your best behaviour today," Sue scolded playfully as she bumped into his side, bringing him back to the present to squeeze her hand reassuringly. "Leah wants you to meet Jacob and she also has a little surprise for you."
Harry cocked an eyebrow in his wife's direction, asking her silent questions, which she only answered with a smile. Shaking his head he merely raised her hand and kissed her knuckles. "Of course, dear. Though I don't know why my baby girl is introducing me to Jacob Black. I have known that boy longer than she's known him," he choked out with a hearty chuckle keeping his lips pressed to his wife's hand.
Jacob Black was the son of one of his long-time friends, his best friend. Both Billy and he had run the lines of LaPush as youngster's so many times they knew the way the winds blew on the eastern border, rough when angry and silently when calm. They knew that the rocks on First Beach were treacherous on a low tide and even on a high; only the locals could know how to dive into it. Billy and he had been on the same football team since 'tiny tackers' all the way through to high school.
"You're her father and she wants you to approve of him," Sue giggled as she tugged his hand back down so it was swinging between them. Letting the light laughter simmer down they let go of each other's hand's allowing Harry to wrap one tightly around her shoulders while hers fell to his waist.
"I'll never approve of any man. No one will ever be good enough for my baby," he sighed as Sue laid her cheek on his shoulder.
"She's happy with him, honey. And she's not exactly a baby anymore," Sue whispered back. "She loves him, and she really wants you to be okay with the relationship she has with him. You and I both know where your daughter gets her stubbornness from, so I want you to be sensitive today."
"The only place my baby girl gets her stubbornness from - is from your mother," Harry smiled sheepishly as Sue slapped against his forearm. "Plus she'll always be my little princess. The one that could kick any boy's ass and hike a football through the air like 'Golden' Joe Montana. She'll always be the little girl that dressed up like an astronaut on Halloween and beat Quil Ateara with her space helmet candy bag because he pointed out that monkeys had been to space but girls hadn't. She'll always be my baby Sue, whether she's three years old or thirty."
Sue laughed as Harry reminisced all the little things that Leah had done growing up. How she'd cut all her hair off to support Seth who had his head shaved at school by bullies. How she'd walked up to those same bullies and gave them a few choice words which left their mouths hanging open, earning her a two-week suspension. How she used to bring home injured animals home and let them sleep in a cardboard box next to her bed.
"That's very true honey, but you know how worried she gets. She never wants to be a disappointment in your eyes. Your approval means everything to her," Sue said quaintly as they broke into the grassed clearing ahead.
"I could never be disappointed love. Not ever." Harry whispered kissing his wife's temple and walking to the bench to set the containers down. Before he could step away from the bench two little arms reached around his calves and clung tightly, small whispers of giggles wafting to his ears.
"Grandpa help. Uncle Seth's trying to eat me," the voice giggled, moving swiftly around his legs and cowering under the wooden table. Crouching down he came face to face with a small child.
The little girl's hair was tied into piggy tails with bright yellow ribbons, her brown eyes light and playful, so full of life that it was hard to look away. The scar on her chin faintly visible as her lips turned up into a heartbreaking smile. Her shining eyes shot to the trees behind him and she had to stifle a laugh as she clamped her small hand over her mouth.
"Hey dad," Seth called out as he strode towards the bench, embracing his mother along the way and giving a 'man' hug to his father. "You wouldn't happen to have seen a little princess around here?" he exclaimed loud enough for the child to hear beneath the table. "Ribbons in her hair, sparkly green dress, and cute button nose – answers to the name of Layla?"
"Sorry son can't say I have," Harry grinned watching as Seth scratched the stubble on his chin.
His son had always been a natural with kids, perhaps due to the fact that Seth was an overgrown twelve year old stuck in the body of a twenty two year old man. He was glad that Seth could remain so untainted by the world. That his outlook on life was still that of the small boy he would teach to carve, the small boy that owned the life of the world in his eyes.
"Hmmm... I swear I saw her come this way," Seth replied deviously as he raised an eyebrow. "I guess I'll just go and check -" he mused looking around before swiftly crouching, "- under here."
His teeth flashed in the sunlight as Layla let out a high pitch squeal and crawled to the opposite end of the bench, dusting off her hands and running across the grass towards the beach.
Seth chuckled before he gangly jogged after her, allowing her space enough to believe she could ever escape her uncle. He would never let her out of his sight, he would always be one step behind her, much like he had been with his own sister, watching and anticipating her fall, ready to be the rock she needed. He would walk through life and be there for the little girl that brought light back into his sister's life, that made her shine again, that made her – Leah – again.
Harry smiled as he wove his arms around his wife, watching as Seth ran down the path. Kissing the top of her head he closed his eyes and hummed into her hair.
Sue smiled as she held on to Harry's forearms as they rested against her stomach. "He's special that one," Harry whispered into her ear and he kissed her jaw lovingly. Even after twenty seven years of marriage the love between them was abundant, floating streams of devotion all around them. It hadn't mattered that the aches from the cold were starting to affect them, nor the difference the years made in the reflections of the mirrors.
"Special alright," Jacob snorted as he made his way to the table, carrying with him a casserole tray filled with fried chicken and a pink tote bag over his shoulder with sparkled butterflies attached.
"So says the gay cook," Leah scolded as she slapped the back of Jacob's head, juggling the tray of cupcakes in the bend of her elbows.
"Hey! The bag is Layla's," he frowned, pouting in her direction and giving her the sad puppy dog look. Leah couldn't help but grin at his upset face as she stopped and turned towards him taking in his demeanour. He knew she would always fall for his antics.
"What's the matter Black? Afraid I've let the cat out of the bag?" she teased as she dropped the tray down slightly to kiss his sad lip. His lips were warm and even though it had been short she still felt the electricity run through him into her, mimicking their first kiss.
"Not funny," he grumbled as he accepted the kiss as an apology.
"Hey Mrs. C," Jacob smiled brightly as he neared Leah's parents and placed the dish and bag down on the table.
Harry watched as his wife merely giggled and nodded, his eyes narrowing at the boy. He'd always been charming and he wondered if his own little girl had fallen in to his web. His bright smile, the way he held himself – much like the chief one day he would become with Billy's passing.
"Nice to see you again Jacob," Sue smiled as she elbowed Harry for the low rumble of a growl her husband was releasing from deep within his chest.
She could feel Harry's arms tense around her and she knew he was internally monologuing all the faults of the man standing in front of him. He was definitely right when he'd told her that no man would ever be good enough for his baby girl – not in his eyes – not ever.
Harry probably saw Jacob as another belt notch-er. Another deadbeat guy that couldn't even take care of his girlfriend or the little girl he'd decided to make with her. Another scared little boy pretending to be ready to give up the other women, the late nights, the boozy mornings. Another Samuel Uley.
"And it's always a pleasure to look upon the face of beautiful women other than the two I already have," he mused giving Sue a small wink in her direction.
Leah rolled her eyes but kept the smile upon her face once she heard the squealing laughter of her daughter as she sped along the grass followed closely by Seth who was pulling faces and snarling playfully at her, bounding like a large puppy.
"Jacob." Harry nodded only acknowledging the other male.
"Harry." Jacob mimicked the motion making sure not to piss off Harry Clearwater too much.
Jacob had always been fascinated by Harry Clearwater, and often as a boy wondered how a man so staunch and intimidating could have a wife that was not afraid of him, much less children with her. Harry was one of those adults where you didn't take their best hat and pour super glue in it. He was a man of few words, but words that were powerful and wise, wise beyond his years. Words that rolled off his tongue in the old language like a bass beating into the core of your body, not only making you listen, but making you believe.
Over the years Jacob realised that while Harry and his father were best friends, they were polar opposites. Where his father was playful with the children in LaPush, Harry was stern and in one word could make the kids stop what they were doing and run away in fear. Where his father was a joker and the life of the party, Harry mere sat on a log quietly, letting the strength of his aura shine through, making just as many sit in the sand and bask around him.
Much like a moth to a flame.
Harry Clearwater seemed much more suitable to represent his tribe over his own father but he knew that tribal law was rule. Only those born of the chief blood would grow to take the place – the rightful place - as head of the tribe.
Blood was thicker than water after all.
"Hey baby," Sue smiled reaching down to pick up her granddaughter by hoisting her on her hip and petting her face with tiny kisses.
"Nanna stop – stop!" Layla laughed trying to curl herself into a ball to stop the onslaught of love her grandmother was showering upon her.
Leah took the time to smile at her father, her eyes shifting from him to Jacob, trying to convince Harry to be a little nicer and to accept him. It could have been classed as a look of despair but Harry knew that look. He sighed quietly and bowed his head to his daughter, ruffling his hand through his hair and trying to pull something from inside, to find the heart to reach out to the man that his only daughter loved.
After eating their fill of the gathered foods Leah snuck away from the table where Jacob and Seth were arguing about the odds of the 'Redskins' winning the play offs and her mother was excitedly entertaining Layla; the little girl smeared in chocolate from her chin across to her cheeks from the cupcakes she'd eaten. She couldn't help but shake her head at her mother trying to convince Layla that she needed to eat more fruit and vegetables instead of overindulging on sweets and cupcakes. Leah could never find it in her heart to deny her daughter anything – within reason.
Walking up to her father who was standing at the line where the grass met the sand, she silently stood beside him, mimicking his pose and looking out into the ocean to watch the waves roll against the shore and break softly.
"You okay daddy?" Leah asked in a small voice not wanting to break the calm flush of the silence. The autumn day was nice and the swell of the ocean engulfed their senses for a second time.
"You remember the story of the Chief and the great whale?" Harry asked, his eyes still trained on the ocean. "I told it to you once, when you were a little girl."
"Of course," she smiled folding her arms across her chest and giving only a quick glance back to the table. Thinking back Leah allowed her memories to cascade through her mind, hearing only the voice of her father in her ears.
It had been a cold night as they sat on the sand, the fire wood popping and hissing from the bonfires heat and flames. Leah had been fifteen years old, still a girl in many aspects but a woman in the eyes of her tribe. A beautiful, strong, intelligent woman that would one day take the place of a wife and mother for one very lucky Quileute man if she so desired.
Her father hoped that she would marry a good man, one that provided everything she needed, that would comfort her when she cried, encouraged her when she didn't succeed; loved her even when she couldn't find a reason to love herself.
"Tell it to me again," her voice was light and memorable as she wove her arm through her father's and leaned her head on his shoulder, the shoulders that bore both great happiness and great sadness.
'As a boy Taha Aki worked with his uncles and the men in his tribe as a fisherman. He'd work long and hard, catching and gathering fish for the rest of the tribe to keep his father's people strong. One particular morning when he'd gone out into the ocean alone, a large storm suddenly engulfed him, rocking the small boat dangerously while waves crashed against the sides. Taha Aki prayed to his ancestors of the Great Ocean and Great Sky in which the storm dwelled.
He'd ask them to save him, to allow him to reach shore with his life intact, promising to give them anything in return. He was merely a boy, he'd not fallen in love, he'd not travelled the lands, and he'd not even taken his spiritual quest. He pleaded with our ancestors and within moments the sea settled and a pod of whales floated toward him, echoing calls deep under the water.
As he caught his breath, Taha Aki heard one of the whales, the biggest whale of the pod, speak to him. The great whale told Taha Aki that the ancestors had spared his life in lieu of one gift to them – the gift of marrying a woman who was of their choosing. He agreed instantly, but asked - "How will I know this woman?" The great whale answered with a spray of water. "You will know it is her. We will visit you again and when you find her you will stand upon the beach and we will sing her praise, this great woman."
Leah chuckled into the sleeve of Harry's shirt, grinning against his arm. "You don't really believe that do you?" she asked playfully, tightening her grip on his arm.
Harry let out a low chuckle of his own as her head rose and her face lit up to greet him. "I guess you're just too old for bonfire fire stories," he sighed, pulling her head forward and kissing her forehead.
Leah hummed out a satisfied breath as she gave her father a warm embrace before letting him go again. "Well I am grown now daddy," she smirked, glancing back at Jacob who was meandering over with a sleeping Layla in his arms. Sue and Seth were laughing as they packed away the remnants for the nice lunch they'd enjoyed and her mother was slapping Seth's hand away, which refused to ignore the last lonely cupcake on the tray.
"Or so you think," her father glanced out to the ocean, his form becoming a little tense as he crossed his arms across his chest.
"Lee-" Jacob whispered, trying not to wake the little girl who was nestled into his chest, her tiny arms resting around his neck. "- I'm just going to take her to the car. We'll wait for you there."
"Let me take her Jake," Leah offered, placing her hands under the little girl's arms and picking her up off her resting place on Jacob.
Before Jacob could say no, Layla was wrapped up in Leah, her face snuggling against her mother's neck and sighing happily.
"Daddy wants to talk with you," Leah offered condolences to him in the form of a smile and kissed him briefly. "We'll wait in the car for you."
Jacob was left standing next to Harry Clearwater and for the life of him had no idea how to begin a conversation with him. Of course Harry knew that he and Leah had been together just over a year, but the old man was so reserved and so down right intimidating to wasn't even sure her father acknowledged him. "You wanted to speak with me sir?" Jacob asked timidly, trying to cough out the dry lump that had formed in his throat.
"I have three rules Black. Three rules. Break any of them and I will break you." Harry voice was calm and collected, taking on a much more serial killer like tone than ever before.
"Of course sir." Jacob nodded back trying not to wet his pants or stutter or just plain embarrass himself. Harry Clearwater - while old - had at least fifty pounds on him, and while Jacob had a height advantage he knew he would never be able to hit Leah's father - even in self-defence.
Out of all the things he could possibly do, to retaliate against a Clearwater would be his ultimate undoing. They were fast like cobras and while their bark was impressive, their bite was just as lethal.
He'd found out the hard way when he'd gone to lunch with a work friend who happened to be female. He hadn't been the least bit interested in her, only trying to comfort a friend. Word quickly spread and before he could even defend himself Leah walked into his garage and punched him dead in the nose, leaving him with a bloody nose and a black eye for almost a week.
He'd tried to beg his way into the house, and even managed to kick down the screen door before he found her crying on the floor in the kitchen, her back against the stove. He didn't know what to do, what to say, so he just took off his shoes and pulled her towards him, hugging her on the tiled floor. After close to twenty minutes of sobbing and sniffling, Leah explained that Sam had done the same thing with her cousin. They had lunch, fell in love and left the very next week. Jacob felt his heart shatter in two, making it seem like it was going to be dejavu for her again.
He knew he could never hurt her the way Sam had. And it wasn't guilt that made him stay, but love. While she was fiery and bitchy, she was also attentive and affectionate. She would scold him for falling off his motorbike when he and his cousin Quil would go cross country, earning him a few slaps to the head. But when the fighting was over, it was Leah who drew a hot bowl of soapy water and cleaned his cuts, washed his dirty leaf and mud filled hair, and kissed it all better.
"As you know-" Harry began, causing Jacob to raise an eyebrow and pay attention to the older male. "-Leah is my only daughter, and while you see her as a woman, she is still my little girl. Hurt her, make her feel inadequate and most of all lie to her... The Black legacy will end with you. Do I make myself clear?"
"Crystal," Jacob stuttered out as he scratched the back his neck, giving his hand something to do instead of twitch with nerves.
"So you asked her to marry you?" the deep rumble in Harry's voice was so full of authority.
"She told you." Jacob said, not a question but more of a statement.
Harry chuckled and turned his head enough to glance at the man next to him. Sure the boy was sometimes clueless, but he meant well. Holding out a hand, Harry shook Jacob's firmly, taking the quick chance to study it.
Jacob's hands almost mimicked those of his own. Strong, extremely large, rough, jagged scars and tiny nicks all over them. Leah's father was impressed that a man as young as Jacob could have hands of a hard worker, a labourer, and a man who kept his household together by not only financially providing for his family but making sure the tin that was pulled over their heads would not become rusted or damaged.
"She didn't need to tell me," Harry smiled, letting Jacob's hand go and dropping it down on to his shoulder. "Congratulations are in order Jacob. I'm grateful that my daughter is happy, and if she is that way with you, who I am to deny her such a life?"
Patting Jacob's shoulder briefly, he glanced out one more time into the ocean, noticing the spray of a whale's air passage shoot up not too far from the shore. He'd noticed them earlier while he and Leah had been talking but decided not to alert her too much.
"Wow," Jacob gasped looking out into the ocean, noticing a pod of whales swimming in the shallow water near the beach. "That's amazing."
Harry let his hand drop from the boys shoulder as he turned from the beach to walk back to his wife. Sue had helped Leah pack the smaller things into the car, while Seth threw the drink cooler into the back of his truck.
Sue frowned as Harry walked towards her, a satisfied smile on her husband's face. "You threatened him, didn't you?" Sue scolded as Harry wrapped her in a tight embrace.
"You'd think so low of me?" Harry whispered, kissing his wife on the neck discreetly.
"Ha, ha Mr. Clearwater. I know you too well. You definitely scared him somehow." His wife responded bluntly, poking into his side.
Sighing, Harry kissed his wife tenderly while resting a hand on her hip. Pulling away he smiled knowing that his wife was still smitten and still in love with him, as much as he was with her.
"Is it not a father's job? I expect Jacob to do the same thing for Layla when she's older. There's just something about the bond a father has with his daughter. Something more than words, more than tears and more than embraces. Fathers are prepared to shoulder the world for his daughter, no questions asked, no asking needed - before he would ever - let it hurt her."
"You're just a big teddy bear," Sue laughed as she stood on her tippy toes to kiss her husband. "Don't worry. I won't tell a soul," she winked as they walked hand in hand back toward the path.
AN - This is one of my favourite one shots that I have ever written. I don't know why. It just kind of feels canon in some way. Like, had there been no shapeshifters and no vampires, that maybe Jake and Leah's lives would have turned out like this. *sigh* If only.
