Seth Smut

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I need a tech genius as a new friend. Could that be you? I have pictures of Seth and Kate, the tattoos, the places, etc. all saved as jpeg files. How do I turn those saved pictures into something I can link to my profile page? Help!


Chapter 7 ~*~

I did not adequately warn Kate about the heinous bitches I am related to.

I tried to explain, but words fail in the face of such complete lack of maternal and sisterly compassion. Sue and Leah are not horrible people, but they just have this way of being so awful and cold at the same time. Like slicing open your arm to rub lemon juice in as they smile and ask about your poor, sick cousin. All sweetness and light until someone opens their mouth.

Frankly, my mom was almost as bad as Leah. Perhaps slightly more subtle in her rudeness. However, with Leah screaming at us when we left, slightly more subtle covers an awful lot of horrid crap. Mom just doesn't give up with her nagging about all the local single girls who I could be with.

Uhgg. As if.

La Push isn't that big and we're sort of related to everyone anyway, but she keeps pushing. It's not far enough removed from inbreeding for my preferences, so thanks, but no. I'm all for tribal independence and respecting my heritage, but let's not close off the gene pool to all outsiders.

Besides, she's a complete hypocrite. Sue is dating a white guy, the sheriff in Forks, the small town outside of La Push Reservation. I don't care if they aren't interested in procreating, that is still a major double standard. You can't give me crap for not dating a native girl when you are boinking someone from outside the tribe, too.

Ew.

Not that I will ever use the word boinking again in connection with my mother. God, that is so gross. Even seeing them kissing was completely wrong and disturbing.

We had driven up to La Push and as I was parking the truck, I saw my mom coming out of the house, so I pointed her out to Kate.

"She's got really short hair now, it used to be really long when my dad was alive, but she and Leah just chopped all their hair off recently. Some mother-daughter bonding thing, I guess."

"Well, the cut looks good on her. I don't know why…" but my shout interrupted her.

"Oh! What the hell? Mom!"

She had come down the steps to the cars parked on the side lawn and stupid me, I thought the excited expression on her face was for her son. But no, she skips to the police cruiser and grabs the ass of the guy standing by the open car door and plants a kiss on him that even I, from two cars distance, can tell was full tongue.

"Hey! That is not right." I yelp as I get out of the truck. "Have some control woman! Your children are here today and don't want to see you groping some guy's ass."

"Oh, Seth," she says like it's no big deal, "Come on over here and say hello to Charlie Swan. He's not just some guy! We've been dating for the last three months and you've known him your whole life."

I struggle to put on a polite face as I shake hands with Charlie.

"Hi."

"Good to see you, Seth."

It couldn't be some random stranger, no. It had to be Charlie, my dad's fishing buddy. This did not sit well. You don't jump into your dead husband's best friend's bed. I mean it's not like I expect my mom not to move on. I know it's been almost five years, but still. I don't want to know or see anything!

I introduce Kate to both my mom and Charlie and we head inside.

It was not a good start. And it did not get much better.

At least Charlie was being polite to Kate. In fact, Charlie even got into a whole conversation with her about the lawyers in her office who dealt with criminal law and they were able to trade some names and joke about the Seattle judges they both had experience with. Not sure I'd ever heard him say more than a couple of sentences before this that were unrelated to sports or fishing. At least he was making an effort.

Mom wasn't rude at first, but she was acting like I'd brought a bunch of friends out of pity because they had nothing else to do. I don't know why I was surprised. Sue Clearwater was gifted when it came to emotional manipulation. You know what they say about the nagging abilities of a Jewish mother when it comes to marriageable mates? Well, my mother could teach advanced classes in Guilt Techniques For Use With Children. Even being home again was like walking back in time. But I am not willing to revert to the boy under her thumb.

So we get out back and most everyone is there. My cousin Emily comes over and she's always nice to see.

"Watch out, Sethy, Aunt Sue's determined this time."

Great.

"What's she been saying, Em?"

"Oh, the usual. You know, how it's so nice how you have friends in Seattle, but you really need to settle down with a nice local girl."

Kate asked Emily, "Doesn't she realize we're dating?" Kate turned to me, "Didn't you tell her on the phone that we were?"

"Yep. I did. Does that mean she listened? Or is that going to stop her? No. Try to ignore her, Kate, she's always bad about this kind of thing."

Emily chimed in with support, "Sue won't accept anyone in Seth's life as serious. Her attitude will always be that there is someone better who she could find for him. She's a matchmaker gone insane."

"Well, mom's out of luck. I am with Kate, whether she likes it or not."

I turn away from Emily and slip an arm around Kate's waist.

"Oh you guys are just too cute!" Emily started to sing, "Seth's in love" in an annoying voice.

"Yes I am." Let's see how she acts with that accepted flat out.

It sure shut Emily up right quick. Her mouth opened, but nothing came out. And then, there was a slow building grin across her face.

After a minute she said, "Then I'm happy for you both." She and Kate were having this whole conversation with their eyes back and forth – god knows what was being said there. Emily just smiled and flitted off to join the party.

Kate turned to me and said wryly, "It's nice to have at least one person in your family supportive."

"I'm sorry, Kate. Maybe this was a bad idea. You shouldn't have to put up with this."

"Seth," she turned around in my arms to face me, "it's ok. I can take anything they dish out, or give back in kind. I'm not going to keep you away from your family. They're blood. The biological clan you come from matters. More than most people realize most of the time. Even if they aren't perfect, they're still family. And at least you've still got yours. I know how important that is. Trust me."

"Yeah, I guess. But I don't want to let them hurt you. I know family is important, but it was never easy for us. Especially after my dad's heart attack. There was so much left unsaid. Things I needed from him, or to share with him." I sighed. "Now, on the other hand, when it comes to my mom and Leah, I wish more would go unsaid," I smirked at Kate, trying to lighten the mood.

Kate just kissed my cheek, "You know what I mean."

I nodded.

"Let's get some food," I suggested, and we stepped off the back porch into the waiting crowd of wolves that I could just imagine: fangs barred, snarling over the fresh meat I'd brought. My protective instincts tensed again. I really hoped that this was not a mistake.

Quill, a friend from high school, was standing over by the food, chatting with my mom and Charlie as they filled their plates.

"What's on your celery, Quill?" I asked. "Looks like a bird took a dump in your hand."

He flashed me an annoyed look, "It's the veggie dip your mom made."

"What's in it? Yuck, it looks disgusting."

"Seth!" my mom scolded, "It's a roasted vegetable puree."

"So, you want us to put vegetables on our vegetables? Jeeze mom, haven't you ever heard of Ranch? Or normal dip? Or potato chips?"

"Seth Harold Clearwater, this is healthier and that is important."

Kate bravely tried to suck up, "Hum, it tastes really good, Mrs. Clearwater."

"Oh, call me Sue, dear. All of Seth's little friends do."

Point to mom.

I ground my teeth as Kate forced herself to say, "Sure, Sue."

"So," I said, wading through all the daggers flying from their eyes, "What's on the grill?"

"We have tandori spiced chicken and salmon with fennel," cooed mom, showing off to Charlie as she ignored Kate.

I looked at Quill. He stared back and shrugged.

"Tandori?" I questioned.

"From India," said Kate.

"Mom, we're not that kind of Indian…"

"Oh, just eat it, Seth, it's delicious," snapped my mom in an annoyed voice.

Point to me.

"Well, I'll have to if I don't want nasty fish," I muttered.

"Not a fan of fish?" questioned Kate, with an upraised eyebrow. A reasonable question since we'd eaten seafood before. I like scallops, shrimp, muscles, lobster and even crab, but not fish.

"Fish is just… fishy. It's gross. Why isn't there any normal BBQ food?" That was aimed at mom to needle her some more. "You know, hot dogs, burgers, maybe a steak?"

"I've already lost one member of this family to a heart attack. I'd appreciate it if you'd at least try to put up with my attempts to keep you healthy and alive."

Point to mom. Do guilt points count double? If so, she's a high scoring champ.

"Sure, mom, I know you're looking out for us," I rolled my eyes at Kate who was trying not to laugh at the fact that my complaining completely backfired. "But I am not eating that mushroom and brussels sprout mix you've got there." But she was already walking away with Charlie, muttering about ungrateful children.

We got our food and sat over by Kim at the long table. Kim had been a few years ahead of me in high school and had married Jared right after graduation. She had started popping out kids right away and they had three now who were all running around the yard screaming and yelling, playing with their dad. Every once in awhile, the youngest would stop and come over to Kim.

"Mommy, Mommy! I'm a 'bulance!"

"Ambulance, kiddo, am\ bu\ lance," Kim would say, pausing after each syllable to help her pronounce it correctly.

"Right, a 'bulance," and the kid would run off again making the most god awful racket.

"So, did your mom push you at Rachel yet?" Kim asked.

"No. Why doesn't she get that I'm with Kate?"

Kim smiled sympathetically to Kate and said, "Don't take it personally, she's just like this."

"Yeah, and it's all your fault for getting married to Jared," I said annoyed.

"Oh, please! I liked Jared all through high school and he just never saw me. I was invisible to him. Boys are stupid. One day, he opened his eyes."

"Well, to hear my mom tell it, she is the matchmaking genius that convinced Jared to ask you out and to propose. She probably even takes credit for your kids and the white picket fence around your house."

Kate turned and muttered into my ear, "Speak of the devil…"

"Over here, Rachel!" announced my mom in a loud perky voice.

God. She's insane.

"Now, Rachel, why don't you sit here by Seth. Kim, you can scoot over to the end. I'm sure your kids need you ready to help them if they get hurt."

As if Kim is a terrible mother, ignoring her children by sitting in the middle of the table to eat. Obviously, Jared, their father, who was playing with them counted for nothing. Kim just shook her head and moved down so that Rachel could sit where she had previously been sitting.

"Rachel, good to see you. This is my girlfriend, Kate." I emphasized the last two words 'girlfriend' and 'Kate' as I stared at my mother.

Fortunately, Rachel is pretty cool with this as it is not the first time we've been set up by my busybody, interfering mother. She jumps right in and starts talking to Kate and Kim, everyone doing their best to ignore the fact that my mother is a psycho.

I get up and walk mom into the house, because I cannot stand any more of this.

But she starts again, "Why can't you find a nice girl to marry, like Rachel?"

"Mom. No. Stop this."

"But it's tradition. Your father and I. Leah and her Sam. You and Rachel would be a perfect couple."

"Mom, you and dad were not from the same tribe and you're dating a white guy now. Sam and Leah broke up a year ago but still hate each other, and last I heard, Rachel was actually dating Paul! Enough! I am with Kate. If you ever want me to visit again, you will stop acting like this to her. It's rude!"

I stomped out of the house.

Is it a point to me since she didn't get the last word? That's pretty rare. I'll take two.

Old Quill was sitting in the porch swing when I passed, so I stopped to chat.

I knew Quill's granddad pretty well. He was one of the elders and had some good stories he used to tell us when we were little. We chatted a bit about my work as I calmed down. Apparently, he knew the uncle of the architect I worked for, Keith Nisqual, from some Intertribal Council gathering. He asked some questions about what an architect does, and then told me to get him a beer before going back to that pretty girl I brought that has, "Sue all up in a tizzy."

I brought him two beers and left with a smile on my face.

After another hour or so, Kate and I were ready to head out. Other than the brief introduction when we'd first arrived, I'd managed to avoid Leah all afternoon. With Leah, avoidance was always a good tactic. Distraction was also a proven life saver. Earlier, Leah had been so busy yelling at her ex-boyfriend Sam that she had hardly noticed us enough to say hello.

I'd thought we might be able to escape without a scene, but she cornered me in the kitchen where I was waiting while Kate used the restroom before we left.

"So Seth, how long have you been fucking that Russian Barbie Doll?"

Classic Leah - rude and crude. But she didn't see Kate come in and certainly didn't expect her to have a backbone. Kate walked over, completely ignoring Leah and asked me, "So Seth, how long has your sister been such a bitch?"

Ha! Point for Kate.

"Forever!" I glared at Leah.

"Oh come on, Seth," scowled Leah, never happy to be ignored. "Couldn't you find a local girl who would tolerate you? Did you have to buy this one online at Russian Mail Order ?"

I tensed to start shouting at Leah, but Kate stopped me with a hand on my chest and a look that said she would take this one.

"My family came from Siberia down through Alaska over 200 years ago, exploring this land before it even belonged to America."

"So what," snorted Leah, "my people were here to greet those Russians and the British and the Americans when they came. And all they ever did was screw us over and fuck up the place! What makes you think you're any different?"

Leah's screeching was contrasted by the smug, dry tone of Kate's voice, "Well, I am skilled at screwing and fucking, but Seth seems pretty happy about that.

Hell yeah! I smiled as we left the kitchen. Triple points to Kate for shutting up my sister. And she even got in another dig as we were walking through the living room, past my mom and out the door.

"Gosh, Seth. Your family is just so nice. I can't imagine why you don't visit more often."

Nice like a root canal.

God, it felt good to leave.


~*~

I promise they will be fucking like rabbits in Chapter 8. Don't fret.

Triple points from Sethy to all who review.