Chapter 7 - Men and Memories
Disclaimer: I'm not Stephenie Meyer, and I didn't write the Twilight series. I just have fun playing with her characters and her world.
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The next morning, I woke up early, still excited from my date with Roma the previous night, and hoping I could see her again that day. I started making breakfast - coffee, breakfast sausages, a bunch of scrambled eggs, and a melon I cut up while the other stuff was cooking. Quil woke up hungry, and was thrilled to see that I had already started making breakfast, and he joined me in devouring the food as soon as it was ready.
"So, when are you going to tell Roma about the Pack?" Quil asked, once our mouths weren't busy with eating.
"I don't know. I need her to trust me enough to tell me about what happened in Philadelphia before she moved here. I think she'll consider the Pack the lesser of two evils, though. But I want to know she trusts me. She told me about her sister's husband leaving her - right after she found out she was pregnant with Ethan!"
"Oh, what a jerk! I hope he's paying massive child support.
"Nope, he ran off and no one could find him." I replied. "I want to pummel him myself, and I just met the family."
"So was Roma helping her sister with the kids before she moved here?" Quil asked.
"Yeah, she moved in right after she finished college, a little bit before Ethan was born. She seemed a bit envious of our bachelor life, she has to make sure her cousin can watch her niece and nephew before we can go out."
"Let me talk to Claire, once the art program starts next week they'll meet her. Claire has a way with kids, and I know she'd love to help you be able to spend time with Roma." Quil smiled.
"You'd give up time with Claire so I could go out with Roma?" I asked, stunned.
Quil looked a little sheepish. "Well, I thought I could come over after she put them to bed, but isn't it the thought that counts?"
I laughed. "Absolutely! I'll talk to Roma about it. I'm sure Nathan will have other sullen teenagers to pal around with soon. I'm going to try to take the kids with us next time - maybe mini-golf, or bowling?"
"That sounds smart. Being nice to her kids will keep you on her good side, for sure!" Quil winked at me.
"I really do want to hang out with them - I'm not trying to be manipulative!"
"I know, I'm just teasing. Don't you need to go to work?"
"Oops, yep. See you later." I hurried out the door, and got to work just as Jake was opening up.
"Did you have a nice time last night?" Jacob smirked at me.
"Yes, thank you. How was your night? Did you and Leah have a nice time?" I replied.
"Oh, yeah. Putting the kids to bed is incredibly romantic!" He rolled his eyes.
"Did you get a chance to call Paul? I think Nathan's actually interested."
"Yeah. Paul said to bring him by sometime before lunch, he's willing to hire him on your say-so, but said he'd kick your butt if the kid was useless."
"He's such a loving friend." I said, sarcastic. After that there wasn't a lot to say - we had several cars to work on that had been dropped off overnight. Plus that Saturn that was stumping all of us. I was deep in an engine when Nathan walked in around 10 am.
"Hey Embry. You wanted me to come over this morning?" Nathan said, looking at the inside of a car with wonder.
"Yep. Let me just wash up and then I'll take you over to meet Paul. Please do me a favor and give this job a chance. He's taking you on without references or applications, and I really don't want to have to deal with him kicking my butt if you slack off."
"Why do you think I'd slack off?" Nathan asked, defensive.
"You're a teenaged boy! All of them slack off from time to time. I remember, I was one!"
"Oh, yeah. Well, I'll try not to get caught slacking off."
I smiled at him, which made him blink. I don't think he was expecting that. "Hey Jake!" I called, "I'm taking Nathan over to see Paul. I'll be back in a few." Jake grunted from under a car - he had heard me. I washed my hands, and walked out of the garage with Nathan following me.
"Embry?" Nathan said, his voice more tentative than I had heard before, "thanks for doing this. Roma's thanking you with lunch at our house today if you can make it."
"I'll do my best. You're welcome Nathan. Like I kinda said to Roma, Paul was a bit of a troubled teenager - lots of anger. I think you two will get along really well. He's a regular guy now with a wife and kid, but he likes having teenagers work for him so he can remember what it was like."
Nathan nodded. I wasn't really expecting him to talk. I wondered what had made him so angry - his attitude was a lot like Paul's, but Paul's anger had to do with being a werewolf. Nathan didn't have to deal with that. Yet.
The meeting with Nathan and Paul went well. They hit it off, and I left. I got a few more things done, and then I washed up and went over to Roma's house.
"Hey! You came!" Roma's face lit up with a smile when she saw me.
"Of course I came!" I walked up the steps to Roma's front porch and kissed her gently. "How could I turn down the invitation?"
"I wasn't sure the invitation was passed on to you." Roma smiled. "Come on in. I made a bunch of sandwiches. Maddie and Ethan are eating peanut butter and fluff, but I have ham and cheese, salami and mustard, and pastrami and provolone."
"Sounds great!"
"Which one?"
"All of them." I smiled at her, and she teased me yet again about my hollow leg. I watched the kids eat their sticky, sweet lunch, and helped them wash up as Roma got our lunches ready.
"OK kids. I got you a treat from the garage." I said. "Here are 4 cars that are little versions of real cars. They even have hoods that open so you can see the engines, and 2 of them are convertibles, and you can push down the roof!"
"Wow!" said Ethan. "Thank you!" said Madison, "Can we go play with them now?"
"Of course," replied Roma. "Just don't break anything."
"C'mon Ethan! The blocks will make great roads! I bet we an build a good jump for them, too!" And with that, Madison and Ethan ran off to their rooms.
"You didn't have to do that, Embry. Thank you so much."
"Well, I did have an ulterior motive." I wiggled my eyebrows. "I get you alone for a minute or two if I bring them something to play with!"
She thwacked me on the head, then laughed. "You're so bad!"
I pulled her into a hug, and then kissed her gently. "No, I'm very good."
Roma looked a little disoriented, but she agreed. "Oh, yes."
I kissed her again, but then I did need to eat the sandwiches. "These are really good, thank you so much! I was running late and forgot to pack a lunch."
"I wanted to repay you for taking Nathan over to meet Paul. I take it that went well?"
"You didn't have to repay me for that! But yes, it did go well. He and Paul connected right away. Paul's attitude was very similar to Nathan's when he was a teenager, so I thought they'd get along." I said, smiling at her.
Roma's smile faded. "Are you sure he's OK being with Paul and the teenagers who work for him?"
I was startled. "Yeah. Paul's married now with a 2 year old and a business. He hires kids he thinks need some extra attention, but he gives it to them. He's a great guy, he just had trouble controlling his anger when he was a teenager."
"If you're sure... I'll trust you. I just got worried when you said he was like Nathan." Roma still looked stiff and anxious. She probably wouldn't feel better until she met Paul as well as his wife Dena. I needed to check when the next Pack get-together would be.
"Roma, what's up with Nathan? Can you tell me what happened with him back in Philly? I won't know the best way to keep my eyes out for him if I don't know what happened."
Roma took a deep breath. "Nathan came to live with Rowan and I about three and a half years ago. Our parents - mine and Rowan's, as well as our Uncle Drake and Aunt Flora, Nathan's parents, all went out to dinner a lot. My mom and her sister were really close, so they went out to eat together at least one night a week. Nathan would either stay on his own or with us. He had been getting into some trouble with some of the 'bad crowd' at school, so he was with us that night. Thank goodness."
I picked her up and set her in my lap, my arms around her. "You don't have to talk about it if it upsets you so much."
"No, you should know. Anyhow, my parents and Nathan's parents were on their way home when a guy driving a tractor trailer truck fell asleep, floated over the median, and crashed into their car. They died instantly." I could feel Roma's body shudder with her tears. I held her to me, rubbing her back.
"Oh, sweetheart. I'm so sorry. I didn't know. I'm just so, so sorry." I couldn't come up with anything else to say - there really wasn't anything else to say.
"Thank you, Embry." Roma said, and she wiped her eyes. "Well, after all that, Nathan stayed with us, we were the only family he had left. We were so busy with our jobs and the little kids, we missed some of the warning signs in Nathan. To make a long story shorter, he got involved with a gang. By the time we knew about it, he was in too deeply to get out easily, and we just had to hope he would be safe. I have to skip over some other stuff, but we ended up moving here to get him away from the gang."
"That must have been terrifying!" I held her tightly. "I was so worried when I was a teenager, because it looked like several of my friends were in a gang. It seemed like they were all being brainwashed by one guy, and he kept them from talking to us. It was horrible."
"Are there gangs here?" Roma's voice was scared.
"No, no no. I just 'thought' there was - it turned out to be the security group, and we can't always talk about what we're doing because of, well, security."
Roma laughed. "So you became a member?"
"It wasn't a choice, it just kinda happened. But I'm glad - I like being an active member of the tribe."
"There really aren't any gangs here?" Roma's voice showed her hope.
"No gangs."
Roma let out a long breath - she must have been holding it for a while. "Oh, I'm so relieved! Now I can worry about bears and things in the woods."
I laughed. "There are always things to worry about, no matter where you live!"
Roma nodded. "This parenting thing isn't easy. And I even got to skip the whole pregnancy and labor part! I couldn't love them more, though. They're great."
"I agree. I'd like to get to know them better - can we go out tonight? I would suggest mini-golf, but since it's raining, maybe bowling? They sell pizza there, too." Now I was the one holding my breath - would she agree?
"That sounds great. We'd love to join you. You should be getting back to work now, though."
"Are you going to be all right? I can call Jake if you're still shaken up by what we were talking about." I looked at her, worried.
"I've been dealing with these horrors for a while, I'll be OK." Roma replied, then she kissed me gently as I went back to work. That kiss would carry me through until I saw her and her family that night.
