Disclaimer – This is Stephenie Meyer's universe. I'm just playing in her world for a long bit. Any names and characters not found in Stephenie Meyer's books are definitely mine or my wonderful beta and good friend Liljenrock's creations.

It took a while to write this because I couldn't really get into the Paul zone, I finally did though, although I'm not entirely happy with this chapter – as usual. But Jen insisted it's fine so I'm posting this because she's insisted. HNCH! This is on you Jen!

I don't know if Lei reads my ANs. If you do girl, please register with FF so that I can send you a reply!

Happy VD all! Hehehe

Colors of My Life

Chapter 6 : Whipped Plum—Purple

Rachel

I rolled over in bed and shifted my head a little to settle back into my pillow. I lifted up a little to pull my hair out from under my shoulders and once comfortable, I opened my eyes to look into warm caramel colored eyes that were watching me so solemnly. I studied his eyes, the pupils inside darker and dialated in the soft lighting from the muted sunlight that filtered in through the closed curtains of my bedroom and I smiled. His eyes were the exact shade and shape of his father's eyes.

"Good morning, baby," I smiled at him.

"I'm not Logan, Mommy!" was his reply.

"I know. I just like calling you baby sometimes," I explained as I reached out to brush his hair back. Even his hair was so much like Paul's that I had to marvel over the fact that I created him.

"Mommy?" Sometimes his expressions were just so serious. I brought my hand down to smooth the line he gets between his eyebrows when he has his thinking face on when there was something on his mind, another one of Paul's traits.

"Uh-huh?"

"Did you meet Mac last night?" His voice was full of curiosity.

"Who's Mac, baby?" I asked puzzled.

"Mac is the baby! He's Uncle Emmett and Aunty Rosalie's new baby," he said impatiently. "He's gonna join the pack when we grow up. Even though he's not wolf."

Sometimes I don't know what is going through Paul's head when he decides to tell Keegan things. We should have discussed how much we were going to tell him first. I sat up, ready to march up to Paul and give him a piece of my mind. "I don't think his name is Mac, honey. Where's Daddy?" I asked as I swung my feet out of the bed.

"Daddy's making pancakes. He told me to come wake you cos' Logan is hungry."

"Okay, let me brush my teeth and we'll go get breakfast, okay?" Phyllis, although being a live-in nanny, gets all Sundays and alternate Saturdays off. Today being her off day. But Paul appeared before I even made it into the bathroom.

"Hey, switch kids with me. I can't decide if he's angry or hungry," Paul handed the furiously kicking and wailing Logan to me and turned to grab Keegan and throw him over his shoulder.

"Why did you tell him about the baby?" I hissed at Paul as he was walking out the door.

He shot me a puzzled look. "I didn't."

It was a little later, when I had a happy and content Logan in his bouncer seat and Keegan, Paul and I were having a late breakfast that I posed the question to Keegan. "Hey sweetie, how did you know about the baby?"

"Griffin tole' me," he answered through a full mouth.

"On the telephone?" Paul asked.

"No, like he always tells me things when we go to Grandpa's house or when Griffin comes here."

"How does he tell you, sweetie?" I asked gently.

He looked at me like I was asking a silly question, "He thinks it to me, Mommy."

"Hey Kee-man, do you tell all this sort of stuff to Phyllis?" Paul asked.

"No, Daddy. This is wolf business."

"Clever boy. You'll be a great wolf when you're all big," Paul grinned at Keegan who beamed back, but I caught the look in Paul's eyes.

Griffin was—he was, I didn't know the right way to explain it, but I needed to tell Jake. His little boy was, I guess the best description would be—powerful.

Paul

I was really uncomfortable doing this, but I knew that it needed to be done. It was the right thing to do. It's what my father would have done. I only wish Keegan didn't have to be here to watch this.

"What's wrong?" he asked. We were all still standing outside Leon's apartment door. I was trying to sum up the courage to ring the doorbell.

"Shh...Give Daddy a moment, honey," Rachel softly hushed him.

With the nanny having the weekends off, Rachel and I had no choice but bring my boys along. I shifted the huge hamper of deli meats that Rachel felt was a suitable gift, into my other arm and rang the doorbell. Louise opened the door, smiling at us in welcome. It was a relief seeing her smile. I really had been expecting anger from her. I liked Louise and I totally approved of her as an imprint, especially for Leon. She was classy and smart and reminded me of Rachel in some ways.

"Hey, didn't you have to work today?" Rachel asked. Louise was a museum curator, a history major and perfectly boring for a corporate atorney.

"No, took the day off to you know, well—"she shrugged. Yes, what exactly would you say to the man who hurt your boyfriend?

"Has he been very grouchy?" Rachel asked as she ushered Keegan in and set about putting Logan's portable carrier down and pulling off Keegan's jacket. "Nanny has the day off," she explained, "Had to bring the kids along."

"It's fine," Louise smiled. "Hi, handsome," she grinned at Keegan. "Emma! Look who's here!"

I should have known Joey and his wife would be here too. The brothers were close and the imprints had become close friends over the years. These were a couple of couples who kind of proved that they were meant to be imprints. I mean, Rachel and I were almost as different as night and day, and I know when I first imprinted on her, lots of people were surprised and shocked. But the Cowley brothers were another matter. One of the early success stories, having thrived from Jake's wolf trust fund, Leon became the Shipo Corporate Attorney, while Joey became an Tax Attorney and worked for a huge firm in Seattle. I think a lot of us were laughing the day he imprinted on an accountant from the local Dodge dealership. Emma had a thing for babies and she very quickly had my youngest son cradled in her arms as she directed me to lay the hamper down in the kitchen.

After all the hellos were exchanged and Rachel and I had suitably inspected the sling Leon had his arm in, I knew I couldn't stall any longer. I turned to look at Keegan and wished for the tenth time that he wasn't here to witness his old man ask for forgiveness, but the other side of me told me that this would show him that I'm just a regular guy too, one who makes mistakes and owns up to it. But did I want him to see this? Did I want him to realise that I'm not the shining super star that he actually thinks I am? Emma had him entertained by some application she had on her phone and I was thankful for that as I took a deep breath.

"Hey Leon? Man, I um – I wanted to say sorry. For doing this to you. There's no excuse. I shouldn't have lost control like I did and I apologize for that. And...and I also want to thank you for everything. You never backed off, man. You saved me from screwing up spectacularly."

"Woah—woah, Paul! Chill, dude. It's ok. It happens, man. Besides, it didnt hurt so much when you broke my foot—or arm, depends on which perspective you're looking at it," he chuckled along with Joey. "When Seth broke it the second time, that hurt like a..." he trailed off when three pairs of cool female eyes turned to look at him.

I shook my head. "I have had all these years to learn control. Everything just slipped last night. You know, I'm not a teenager anymore. I know better. I just failed everything, everyone. What you did for me.. Leon, I almost killed Lil' G. If you weren't there, I don't know what I would have done. I don't know how to look at myself in the mirror."

Leon laughed. "Lil' G will probably have a new sort of respect for you from now on. Paul, man, I've known you since the first day I phased. Sam didn't want you anywhere near me that day. I remember that, when Jared and him were trying to get me to phase back. Leah was also told to stay away but she was there in my head, not helping. But when everyone who was assigned to stay with me were falling asleep, it was you who stayed there with me. I was scared, I was angry, you were angrier. And out of everyone who talked to me that day, you were the only one who helped, the only one who understood."

"I was mean to you!"

"You were, you were!" Leon was quick to agree, with Joey grinning and nodding in remembrance.

"You were the meanest motherfu—sorry, meanest wolf ever. I wanted to be just like you." Joey laughed.

And then suddenly, Leon was drawing Louise into his arm and he pressed a kiss to the top of her head as he held her close and breathed her in. I watched them, I knew and recognized that action very well because I did that a lot too with Rachel, with my boys. Love. He loves her and he was acknowledging the love he feels for her. Then with Louise still pressed to his side, he opened his eyes and looked at me directly.

"If it was Louise, I kinda think I'd lose control like that too. I think I've come to the conclusion that she's the glue that holds me together. If I didn't have her, I guess I would be all over the place and well, being all over the place isn't the place to be, huh?" he grinned down at her upturned smiling face. "I would go absolutely crazy if anything ever happens to you," he told her.

"He concluded that last night," Louise grinned as she held up her left hand where a new engagement ring glittered.

Rachel laughed as she pulled Louise out of Leon's hold and hugged her, then examining her ring with a smile on her face. I had to grin too, nothing like an adreanline pumping night to get the romance flowing after. I walked up to Leon to shake his hand and congratulate him.

He shook his head though. "I don't think you understand, Paul. I bought that ring months ago. But last night was the night that I was absolutely sure. You made me see that. I always knew I loved Louise, but how much did I love her? I didn't know. You were not embarrassed or shy about how much you needed Rachel. You would fight your brothers for her. Hell man, you were fighting Jake's hold the entire time and you only chilled once they assured you that Rachel was alright." He grinned as he sort of rocked on the balls of his feet for a moment. "The whole time I was fighting you, I realized that. That for you only Rachel mattered. And I realized that for me, only Lou matters. You made me see that. That's why I hung on to you, maybe that's why I didn't really feel the pain at that time. I'm sorry I tore your face up, man, but it's not like it's made you any uglier."

"I'm too good looking to ever be ugly," I replied with a grin.

"Don't forget modest," Rachel called out with a roll of her eyes.

"You know what you dames have got to realize?" Joey called out as he stretched his feet up onto the coffee table. "The candy and flowers and climbing the highest mountain and crossing the deepest river manbo jumbo, that's for the average man on the streets. You want a true declaration of love from a wolf, ask if he would tear his brothers apart just to get to you. That is true love," he said as he turned to look seriously at Emma who had Logan on her shoulder as she swayed softly.

"If that's your way of getting out of getting me any flowers or candy on Valentine's Day, you can think again," was her response to his heartfelt declaration.

I didn't know if I was the only one who was noticing this, but imprints these days were getting way too mouthy.

My apology to Leon was easier than I'd imagined it to be. I stood back as Rachel hugged Leon goodbye and softly thanked him for everything and apologised too. I pretended not to hear as Leon murmured back that he had been worried about how I'd have treated her once we left, the embarrassement I felt, the shame was still there. Rachel was quick to assure him that she was fine and that we worked everything out. If they knew how I had hurt her last night, what respect these two brothers had for me would go flying out the window. I knew my son would never look at me the same way he does. I turned to look at him and found him watching me solemnly. It was strange seeing him quiet and serious. It made him look older in a Billy-esq way.

Our next stop after that was to see Lil' G. Once again, I had to make this visit with my entourage. The apartment looked way different than it did when I first bought it. Well, it now had two college going wolves living there, so I suppose certain things have to be overlooked. Luka let us in, looking as serious as ever. His eyes lit up a little at the sight of the giant Deli meat hamper in my arms and he accepted it happily to lay it on the coffee table.

Lil' G came stumbling out of his messy room, while pulling on a t-shirt over his sweatpants. "Hey!" he greeted us. "Oh man, Rachel. I didn't know you'd be coming. I'm sorry about the mess."

"Daddy," Keegan called out.

"Hhmm?"

"How come all these ladies have no clothes on?" he asked as he studiously turned the pages of the magazine that was on the little breakfast bar that connected the living room to the kitchen.

The uproar his little question cause was beyond epic proportions as Rachel screeched and Luka and Lil' G both grabbed for the magazine with a yell at the same time, managing in their panic to rip it into two, both young wolves hiding their halves behind their back. I didn't know what it was, if it was seeing Rachel as she had Keegan wrapped up in her arms as if she was protecting him from something dangerous, or if it was seeing the two young guys blushing worse than a someone's maiden aunt caught red handed in a porn store, or even if it was all the stress of the day and the night before, but everything about it just struck me funny suddenly and I found myself roaring with laughter.

It was only a little later, once I managed to get everyone in the room calmed down that I could get down to the actual business I was there for.

"Lil' G, I owe you an apology for last night. Losing control like that, what I did to you, almost did to you. That was, that was bad."

Lil' G gasped, clearly shocked and not expecting an apology from me. "Paul, man. Geez. There's nothing to apologize for. Last night was rough on everyone. Please don't apologize."

Rachel was there suddenly, hugging him tight and Lil' G blushed once more. "Paul told me what happened with the two of you. How Leon stopped him. I'm sorry, sweetie, I'm sorry we put you in the middle of that, and thank you for everything."

"Oh Rachel," Lil' G mumbled, clearly embarrassed. "Honestly, I wanted to run to you too once I realized what was happening. Then Jake was there and," he shrugged. "I wasn't, I didn't do much. Leon...he was more into it. I was just running with them you know."

"It was the imprinting. Paul is tied so much to you, that's why he lost control, and Leon has an imprint, that's why he could understand what Paul was going through and he could place himself between you and Paul," Luka contributed.

"I was scared with the mess both your minds were in. Imprinting is something I guess I'll never understand," Lil' G said with a shudder. "Man, I hope I never imprint."

"Yeah, me too. Imprinting messes you up," Luka agreed with Lil' G, then fidgetted when faced with Rachel's cool stare.

I sat forward in my seat and snuck a look at Keegan. He was completely focused on some violent computer game the boys had hooked him up with and he had his tongue between his teeth as he machine gunned a bunch of sexily dressed aliens into smithereens. "Idiots, both of you," I murmured as I repositioned the coffee table with my foot. "I hope you two imprint. Honestly, it is the best thing that can ever happen to you. It turned my life around."

"But Paul," Luka said as he sat down across from me. "Look at how you were last night. Some of the older guys were calling you the beserker. What you did to Leon, what you almost did to Lil' G. I was phased in, man, I saw everything. You totally lost it last night, bro." I kept my eyes on Rachel as the color slowly left her face. A part of me wanted Luka to shut up, for a smart kid, he sometimes doesn't know when it's a good time to speak his mind and when it's not. But then, another part of me wanted Rachel to hear this. We resolved so much last night, but still, she did place herself in danger. She was not alone. I was tied to her, so were my sons. "I never want to lose control like that, you know? These days, I can phase in seconds and I don't have to clear my mind before I am able to phase back. I had to learn to have that sort of control. You're way stronger than us, Paul. And you completely lost it in seconds."

I turned to look at Luka. He was serious, sometimes way too serious. "You don't want to imprint because you'd loose control?" I asked with a grin. "Seriously? That's the one stupid reason you have?"

"It makes you do stupid things," he mumbled and I watched as Rachel walked over to Logan sleeping in his little seat and played with his hair. I could read her body language, she was getting upset. She knew that she unintentionally made me do something stupid last night.

"What about the fifty million smart things it makes you do?" I asked.

"Huh?" was Luka's brilliant comeback.

"When I was seventeen, I was about to flunk out of high school, and I had a bright future ahead in getting a job at the cannery, and pray and hope that I'd grow on the job and become a foreman the way my dad did. I was the second to phase after Sam, third to imprint. You know what imprinting did to me?" I stood up and held my arms out. My clothes may be casual today, but they were of a whole other class from the teenaged me. I knew I had a totally different carriage from the old Paul. I didn't shop at Target anymore, neither did my family. "Look at me. Look behind you, that's my wife. I think she's gorgeous and smart and brilliant. Those are my sons, they're my pride and my glory. I drove my family here in my Maserati to apologise to Lil' G for the one stupid thing I've done in years." I had to stop for a minute to pull myself together. Then I turned to Lil' G. "I lost control last night, Lil' G, and I apologize for that. Luka is right. It was the imprinting that made me lose control. When Rachel was scared, not normal scared but the kind of panic causing scared, I felt her. I felt that panic. I reacted to that. But both of you need to know, that whatever success I've gained over the years, was also caused by the imprinting. It gave me a drive to excel. That, that is what I wish for both of you. Hell, I wish it for my boys too." I did, I really did wish it for my sons. Imprinting made me a better man, gave me the strength to become a better man.

"Whatever happened to the old fashioned way of falling in love?" Lil' G grinned.

"Hey, imprinting happens this fast," I snapped my finger and grinned at him. "Falling in love however, is on a whole different timeline, a whole different game." I turned to smile at my lovely wife. Falling in love with her certainly didn't happen overnight. It happened way after I'd learnt to control the urge to chain her to my side, long long after I managed to curb the need to want to tape her mouth shut. She knew all this, and I knew that was why she was grinning back at me. "Imprinting tells you that she's the right girl to put all that time and effort in for."

Imprinting could be the motivation factor for a wolf to put in the time and effort needed to completely fall in love, but I guess it was contentedness after love is achieved that gives a wolf the sort of control, the sort of mind frame that is needed to be a leader, to be the true protector. But my mindframe at the moment was far from calm that night, as I waited for Keegan to scramble into his bed. I pulled his covers up over him.

"You want your Octopus?" I asked and waited for his nod before I handed it to him. "Okay, what story do you want to hear tonight?" I asked as I walked towards his little bookshelf. Keegan had been unusually quiet during his bath, almost solemn and I was glad I had Keegan, and Rachel had Logan to put to bed. I had a feeling my son was gearing up for his twenty questions, but this time, it was going to be something serious.

"Daddy?" There it was, the slight tinge of being unsure, something you very rarely heard in my son's voice.

"Yeah, Kee-man?" I turned back to him, I didn't bother with a book. Tonight was not going to be a story night.

"Daddy? Did you do something bad?" he sounded sort of upset and that twisted something inside my chest. I never want him to think badly of me.

"What do you mean?"

"I heard you say sorry to Leon and to Lil' G." There it was, straight to the point.

Being a father was something I had put a lot of thought into. Rachel always had a plan. She had a fucking plan for everything, including when we were to start our family and most of the time, I went along with her plans because she usually had a good point. She was smart that way. I owed my success to her. And when she had said that day that she was throwing out her birth control, honestly it was that day that I actually sat back and thought what fatherhood was all about. My dad had always been there for me, well maybe not that period of time when he wasn't in on the wolf secret, but I knew how hard it was for him to accept the evidence that I was up to no good. He always wanted to talk, always trying to be there, wanting to help. I hated those days when I had to lie to him. He was the dad who stood up to a towering Sam and warned him to stay away from me. My dad. I wanted to be just like him. And I never wanted Keegan to be in a position that he has to hide something from me. I wanted him to come to me with anything.

I was glad that being wolf was not going to be something he had to hide from me and whenever he had a question for me, I always made sure I had an answer. But tonight's questions were making me beyond nervous. Tonight would make or break the superhero status I held in my son's eyes.

"Last night, something happened and I lost control of myself," I spoke slowly, wanting, needing him to know the truth and yet..."I went a little crazy and Leon and Lil' G tried to stop me. I ended up hurting them." I was never going to lie to my children.

"Did you break his bone, Daddy?"

"Yes, I did."

"But you are his boss. Did you still have to say sorry to him?"

"Yes, I did, Keegan. Just because I'm his boss, doesn't mean I get to do something wrong and get away with it. I'm stronger than them, Keegan. It should be my duty to look after those weaker than me. What are we?"

"Wolves," was his immediate reply. "Protectors."

"Yes, protectors. I shouldn't hurt anyone. I should protect them. That's why I apologized. I was in the wrong."

He was serious as he processed what I said. He was a child, I'd rather have him thinking of something childlike, something more to his age; instead my actions from the night before had my son analyzing his thoughts like someone way older.

"Was it because of Mac?"

"Is he the baby that Griffin told you about?" When he nodded, I figured that these kids already knew so much, what's a little more truth? "Last night, a cold one went to your mom's office with the baby. He wanted to get him to the Cullens, and he didn't know how to find them. I reacted to that, the fact that there was an unknown cold one with your mom and I was scared that he was going to hurt her."

"But Mommy's fine!" Keegan looked surprised, upset, and confused all at the same time.

"I know, I know. But I panicked, Kee-man. Do you know what Mommy does in her lab?"

"She becomes the voice for dead people?" he asked with all his innocence.

I laughed softly at his words, no doubt having heard this from Rachel herself. "Yes, that's what she does. There are bad people in the world. Sometimes innocent people get hurt by them. You know that, right?" He nodded vigorously. "If I had broken in as a wolf, I would have damaged her office. Some bad people could say that her evidence were damaged and there may be criminals who would get out of jail, and no one would listen to your mom." I pushed his hair off his forehead before I kicked my shoes off and and stretched out beside him. "When you become wolf, Kee-man, always think of your actions, think what could happen if you did things this way, or that way. Think it through before you do anything."

"And I have to say sorry if I did something wrong?"

"Yes. And you know why?"

"Why Daddy?"

"Because it makes you a good person. Once your grandfather asked me something, and it's stayed with me all this time." I patted my chest, where my heart was and I watched as Keegan automatically brought his hand up to his own chest, mirroring my actions. "Nevermind what other people think and say. Always check what you feel in here. Follow what your heart tells you, Kee-man. If you feel anything that could be doubt or guilt, don't do it. I've been trying to follow that since the day he told me that."

"Daddy, I'm gonna follow that too!"

"That's good, Kee-man. That's good," I fell silent and I listened to his breathing and it hit me again, that pang. He shouldn't be trying to make sense of something this deep, he was just a little boy, my little boy. And being my little boy, I suppose in a way, he would carry my flaws. "You know, Kees, it's not really easy to follow that. I'm still messing up. Sometimes, you're gonna wanna do bad things because it's easier than the good things."

He thought deeply before he spoke, reminding me once more of Billy. "Sometimes we don't do things just because it's easy." Very serious words for such a little boy. "And sometimes the Coyote plays tricks to make us wanna do bad things."

"Yeah, that's right. Where did you hear that?"

"Grandpa Billy said it in a story," he sat up to look at me. "You're not a bad person, Daddy. You wanted to save Mommy. It's a good thing we have the pack to help us when the Coyote messes with us, huh?"

I laughed. "Yeah, yeah, that's right, buddy." Then I pushed him back into bed and pressed the Octopus back into his arms. "Hey, Kee-man, thank you for being my son. I love you, little man."

"Love you, Daddy," he mumbled as I tucked him back into his covers.

Rachel

I stood at the counter, building the lasagna. There was something just so devious about laying on the layers, and not one of my boys realized that I always added a layer of eggplant puree in there. Was I the trickster for resorting to such tactics to ensure that a reasonable amount of vegetables went into their tummies everyday? I didn't feel guilt or doubt in my heart so that means it's fine, right?

I've been replaying Paul's conversation with Keegan from the night before over and over in my head. I'd been planning on joining them in Keegan's room when I heard them talking and I stayed outside and listened, not wanting to intrude on a father-son moment. I blinked back my tears. When I had finally given in all those years ago to the imprint pull and the sheer sincerity in Paul's pleas to give him a chance, I hadn't expected this. I never thought that I would one day be married to him and have his children and be living this fairy tale life. Paul was my prince in so many ways, ways that he would never in a million years be able to fanthom. I never thought the man I would love, the man I would marry would become the kind of father Paul is. Looking at him, you would never be able to tell. He was still a badass in so many ways, but he was also an incredible father. The father of my children. I was lucky, very very lucky.

"Hey, all okay?" Nessie asked as she popped up by my side. From the way she kept her eyes on the bowls spread out before me, I guess she knew I was having a sappy moment and was giving me the space to pull myself together.

I nodded. "Something in my eye." My brother and his family were still in town and I was having them over for dinner. I missed them, missed being able to hang with Nessie as and when I felt like it, missed the family in general.

She smiled. "Uh-huh. If you say so. Need any help?"

"Can you start the salad?"

We worked companionably for a while and I could feel her gaze upon me a few times. "Can I ask you something?" she asked, waiting for my nod. "You were like this mother hen standing between the pack and Dale. How come you've not asked anything about him or the baby?"

"I figured you and Jake would be telling us over dinner."

She turned to face me completely. "I know you, Rachel Winters, and patience is something you have very little of, and curiosity is something you have way too much of. Aren't you even the slightest bit worried that there's a half-human baby being brought up by vampires?"

"My bestest friend in the world is half-human and raised by the same bunch of vampires. I let my baby brother go live with them for the better part of ten years. I've left Keegan with them countless times and you think I'd be worried about a half-human baby being brought up by your family?" I laughed and she joined in.

"You're right, you're right. But just because I'm dying to tell you, Uncle Emmett and Aunt Rosalie are raising him."

"I know," I murmured with my eyes on the oven dial as I set the timer. "I also know that they're calling him Mac and he's joining the pack when he's older, even though he won't be a wolf."

She gasped softly. "Jake!" she called out and he appeared next to her to casually fish a slice of cucumber out of the salad to munch on.

"Yeah, babe?"

Paul trailed in after him, heading straight for the fridge to toss Jake a beer and help himself to one.

"Did you tell anyone about Mac, or of him joining Griffin's pack?" Nessie demanded.

"Let me guess," Jake turned to lean back against the counter to look between me and Paul. "Keegan told you?"

"Yeah," Paul took a long drink.

I studied Jake, trying to read that look in his eyes. Sometimes his eyes looked old, like right now as he pulled Nessie to his side. "He's getting stronger," Jake murmured softly, almost as if he was talking only to her.

Paul swung himself up onto the counter. "The future Alpha, and he's already picking his pack," he smiled.

"You're not bothered that he's communicating with Keegan like this?" Nessie asked, worry evident in her eyes.

"The only thing I'm worried about is the kind of mischief these kids are gonna get into with a link like this. Can you imagine them as teenagers?" Paul grinned. "They'll be covering for each other for every bit of crap they get into."

I groaned. I hadn't thought of that. I didn't for a minute want to imagine the kind of mischief these little tyrants who were the sons of Paul and the sons of Jacob combined could envoke. But I couldn't help the laughter that bubbled out. "Oh my God! They're going to cheat in school, and listen to secrets. I know it, I just know it!"

"I'm almost jealous," Paul laughed with me. "They're gonna have so much of fun."

But my brother and his wife remained serious as they watched us. I noticed how Jake's arm tightened around Nessie. It was almost as he was giving her comfort while drawing the same from her. I never told anyone this, but I loved seeing them together. It just surprises me every time I see him holding her and kissing her and generally being so tender with her because he's my little brother. I grew up with him and I never thought he had this side to him. It makes me happy to see them together, to see them complete each other.

Jacob cleared his throat and then spoke softly. "We phased because there was going to be danger to the tribe. Not from the Cullens, no. But there's never been a quiet year, Paul. Admit it. If our kids are having way stronger gifts, what are the spirits preparing us for? Preparing them for? What are they going to face? Fight?"

I felt a chill settle around me for a moment. Fear. My babies, what might happen to them. But Paul's words took that fear away. He made me, the scientist believe in the wisdom of the spirits.

"Jake, the spirits are preparing them. And they have us to guide them, man. We didn't have that advantage. Whatever comes, these kids will be able to take them on." Simple words but it flowed over me like a balm and I just had to walk over to him and take his free hand in mine. "I explained what happened last night to my four-year old. Not the details, but enough to understand what went down. He was there while I apologized to Leon and Lil' G. And he displayed this...wisdom that was beyond his age level. My son, man." Paul paused to bring my hand up to brush his lips against my knuckles. "We're raising good kids. I've never seen other kids who are that observant and intelligent. We can't escape who we are Jake. We're not normal. Stop expecting normalacy for our kids," Then he was grinning down at me as he pulled me closer and I felt his lips brush over my forehead. "I think whatever comes our way, they'll be ready for them."

"Does Griffin communicate that way with you? Or with the other kids?" I had to ask.

"Both Griffin and Bodhi do. So far it's usually with Seth's kids and Jared's kids. I guess they live closer. We know they do with your kids. But neither one of them has linked up with me. Edward says they seem to have like an on-off built in switch," Jake explained.

"They've taken the mind reading from Daddy, the projection from me, the on shield, off shield from my Mom and generally link up with each other like you wolves do. Daddy says they're able to open a conference mode of some sort," Nessie explained. I was facinated. My little boy was a part of this and I never really knew how deep it all was. Nessie looked troubled. "I keep telling him not to do it. It's becoming so casual for him."

"Don't stop him, Nessie," Paul said gently. "Let them start young, it makes them stronger. Besides, they all seem to know who's in the wolf business and who's not. They take this way seriously."

"Mommy!"

I turned as Griffin and Keegan came marching into the kitchen, both looking serious and extremely busy and put off. Paul wears that same expression when he's busy with something Shipo related and I come bug him to take out the trash.

"Yes?" I asked with a smile. It always amused me to see that expression on Keegan.

"Griffin and I are making the tracks but Logan's diaper is wet and he's not happy," my little boy-wonder announced with a heavy dramatic sigh.

Griffin nodded with a smile. "And Bodhi just woke up and he's hungry." Then he turned to Keegan. "Come on, let's go finish the tracks!"

I watched as the two cousins turned to walk importantly out, back to their train sets and Keegan sighed once more. "Being a big brother is busy."

"Yeah," Griffin agreed. "It's never over."

I couldn't help smiling when I heard that, even as I heard Logan start wailing over the baby monitor and I turned to look at a grinning Nessie as our husbands chuckled. They'll be okay, they just had to be. I insist on it.

I looked straight at Jake. "Neither one of them will turn wolf and disappear for months at a time, will they?" I asked. I could still remember the fear I felt for Jake's safety when he had taken off and I had been let in on the secret the first time. That was yet another point of my life when I felt I had failed my family, my brother.

He smiled and shook his head. "Like Paul said, these kids are growing up with the knowledge and are able to come to us with just about anything. I don't think they'd be messed up like I was," he smiled down at Nessie as she grinned up at him with a raised eye brow. I remembered then the reason of him leaving and I blushed at my silliness in mentioning that in front of her. "The only thing to worry about would be the kind of danger they'd face, but I have confidence in them. I just wish they didn't have all this on them, you know?"

I nodded. I know. But if this is the way things are meant to be for them, then it would be our duties as parents to pave the road right, I guess. I was not going to fail my children or my nephews this time.

AN: All I ask for is your opinions and thoughts on this chapter. Did you like it? Hate it? I know it doesn't suck, but tell me what you think anyway.