Disclaimer:Characters belong to Stephenie Meyer..
A/N: I'm sorry you all had to wait so long. Some of you might already know but I have been suffering mad writers block and this is the first time in a while that I've actually been able to sit down and write.
Chapter Seven
"Where did you put that window pane?" Jacob asks, looking around him. Seth curls his lip and rolls his eyes.
"How can you lose a window?" he mutters but Jacob ignores the accusation. Leah barely registers it. She's relaxing, enjoying the mild sunshine, and watching everybody else doing the grunt work. She doesn't even feel bad that she's not helping. It's not like she'd be much use in her condition.
Quil throws a glare her way and a not so friendly grumble about laziness. She tells him pretty much the same thing and then resolves to ingore him and focus on the way his bare chest glistens with sweat. She's still a warm blooded woman after all. It would be unnatural not to appreciate the view.
Jacob hands her a lemonade, but not before taking a big gulp of it. She'd probably be pissed if he wasn't shirtless and hotter than he's ever looked before. He takes the garden chair, next to hers and leans forward with a sigh. "It's coming along okay, isn't it?"
She laughs. "Are you telling me or trying to convince yourself?" Then she answers seriously because she knows he's pretty proud of how things are working out and he really should be. "It's great, Jake. It doesn't even look like the same place anymore."
He nods, his gaze still fixed on the house in front of him. With one last weary sigh, he turns to her. "Why don't we do something tonight? Go for a meal or catch a movie?"
Leah scrunches her nose in confusion. "Like a date?"
"Yeah," Jacob replies. "It's been a while since we did anything together, just the two of us...and we probably won't get much of a chance when the baby's here."
She thinks about it for a moment. As much as she dreads the idea of having to get ready and actually attempt to act like a social human being, it would be nice for her and Jacob to spend some time alone.
"Sure, sounds like fun," she says and he smiles because she really means it. He drops a kiss onto her temple and with something approaching a grumble, he goes and joins the others.
Leah watches them work for the rest of the day. Despite the fact that she is surrounded by some very....healthy looking males, she only has eyes for Jacob.
Leah is putting the finishing touches to her make up when her nostrils flood with the slightest scent of musk. Her brain makes the connection in under a second. Add the scent to the familiar purr of a car engine and heavy crunch of gravel under feet and she can almost visualise Jacob walking up the front path. Broad shoulders relaxed, lean hips moving in a lazy, masculine stride. An easy grin on a handsome face. She closes her eyes and inhales deeply, savouring the scent as it becomes stronger with each step. It is so raw and powerful that she can almost taste it.
She feels the slightest kick in her stomach and wonders if their child can make the conncetion too.
Jacob stops in the kitchen to make small talk with Seth and Sue. She can still hear a current of tension on her mother's part but things are getting better between them. She smiles as she looks at herself in the mirror. All the weariness is gone and she's kinda looking forward to tonight. The door opens with a soft click and Jacob grins as he pops his head around the door.
"You decent?" he asks, peeking through his half closed eyes.
Leah giggles and turns back to the mirror. "Like that's ever stopped you."
He takes her lipgloss from her hands and holds it above his head, shushing her pleas to have it returned to her. He leans down, teasing and his eyes shine with amusement. Smoothing her hand over the planes of his face, she wonders how this ever happened between them and then thanks every god she knows of that it did. She leans closer, capturing his lips in her own. He kisses her back for a moment, soft and steady and then he's gripping her hair in a manner that takes her breath away. His breathing switches, his tongue working hers with such expert familiarity that she could cry. Instead, she pulls away because she knows that if they don't get out of there now, they probably never will, and turns back to what she was doing.
She can see him watching her through the mirror. He looks dazed, and kinda disappointed so she smiles. "There'll be time enough for that later, Black. You said you wanted to go out."
His face shifts into a smile again and he moves behind her, tipping her head with his own as he lays warm kisses upon her neck. The heat it sends through her makes her sigh softly and she's beginning to reconsider when he pulls back and winks at her through the mirror. With one swift smack on her ass, he's out the door. She shakes her head with a laugh.
"Two can play that game", she mutters to herself.
The resturant is cheap and tacky. Low lighting bathes the room in a sickly yellow glow. More than likely to hide a worn, threadbare carpet. Even the waiters are dressed in cheap polyester but by their standards, it's still pretty fancy. Leah even expects Jacob to pull out her chair for her. He doesn't. He's in his own and pawing through the menu before she's even grabbed the back of her chair.
She feels a slight twinge as she lowers herself into her seat. Something more than the usual aches and pains that come with pregnancy but she passes it off as nothing important. Besides, she's a few days past the six month mark already. The extra weight has to make a difference with these things.
"If we each get a starter, a meal and a dessert...then that should tide us over until we get home." Jacob says, his eyes still on the menu. He gives her a once over, his eyes dropping to her hidden stomach. "You can get a side order of fries or something. Everyone will think it's because of the baby."
She narrows her eyes at him but his gaze is already back on the menu. They don't go out to eat much, though it has less to do with lack of time and money as it does the inconvenience. It's hard to get their fill without raising eyebrows, especially in Leah's case. Things are easier now that she can blame cravings or increased appetite. The only problem is the truth in it. She's been eating twice the normal amount that even with the extras, she'll still go home hungry. Chances are they'll be stopping at a few fast food resturants on the way.
A waitress, young, blonde and pretty, comes to take their order. She repeats it back to them, stuttering over her words and almost dropping a bread basket in Jacob's lap. Leah can smell a strong wave of desire coming of her, a steady mix of phermones and cheap perfume that makes her want to puke. As irrational as it may seem, it bothers her. She eyes the girl's flat stomach and feels a sudden urge to punch her right in the face. By either instinct, or because Leah has never been one to hide her anger---the girl quickly realises that she is treading on some dangerous ground and leaves. Jacob doesn't even notice just how close his girlfriend came to commiting bloody murder in a public place.
He leans back, scratching his stomach. His crisp shirt---the nicest he's got--- rides up a little, revealing bronzed muscle and the beginnings of a dark trail of hair. She smiles. Maybe they should have stayed at home after all.
He fails to notice her appreciative gaze. "I dunno why you didn't just get fries. They're your favourite."
She just knew he'd complain about the side salad she ordered. "I'm trying to eat healthy, for the baby."
He laughs and grins at her, white teeth gleaming under the harsh light. "Lays, that baby is probably gonna be stronger than any of us. I doubt a little saturated fat is gonna do much damage."
She shrugs, breaking off a piece of bread. "Never hurts to be safe."
He leans forward and plucks the bread from between her fingers. She contains the impulse to growl at him but he sees it anyway and smiles. Then his smile becomes softer and he encloses his large hand around her smaller one. "In a few months, we're going to be living in our own house and we'll have our baby."
She doesn't mention that they'll also have his friends and her brother with them. She likes it when he gets serious. She likes to see him happy most of all. She wonders how he can be so convinced that everything is going to turn out right when every little thing makes her worry. She doesn't know how he does it bit she loves him for it anyway.
"We're gonna make it, aren't we, Jake?" And it's not a question as much as it's a realisation. Whatever happens, she'll always have him and the day she doesn't is a day she won't ever allow herself to think about. Whatever happens, he'll pull her through it.
She feels another twinge but this time she smiles through it. She thinks about what Jacob would say to her and mentally agrees with him. It's nothing she hasn't felt before. All part of the natural process. But she'll stop by the Cullen's in the morning and get Carlisle to check her over.
Never hurts to be safe, after all.