"Your hands can heal, your hands can bruise

I don't have a choice

But I'd still chose you."

- Poison & Wine, The Civil Wars

()()()

I came out of my room right after Jacob left, not wanting to raise any suspicion. I opened my door to find Ivy seated right beside it, napping silently with her little ear pressed against the wall.

It wasn't like her to sleep so much.

I wasn't surprised when her brown eyes opened quickly, a tricky little smirk on her face.

"Boo!" She hollered, her little voice rich with joy and happiness. She hopped up into my arms.

"Oh, Gods, Ivy!" I groaned, leaning back a little with her weight. "You're too big to be carried around all the time."

She scrambled up to whisper into my ear.

"You weren't alone in there, Rena." She giggled. "Jacob was in there with you."

"You could hear all that?" I flushed, my cheeks turning red.

"Well, you weren't exactly quiet." Emily smiled, rounding the corner. "I won't say anything to Sam, don't worry. He and I were the same way when he first imprinted."

I nodded my thanks, placing Ivy on her feet and allowing Emily to lead me into the kitchen. I could smell all types of food, lasagne to steak, and I wondered how she was able to work a miracle like this when I couldn't even microwave soup correctly.

"I hear the boys coming!" Ivy shouted, and she hurried outside to meet them.

"Emily," I said quickly, chastely. "Ivy doesn't know and, please, I'd rather she didn't find out."

Emily nodded, patting my arm.

"Frankly, I think we were a little surprised you knew, Serena."

I bit my lip, trying to keep my voice down.

"Mom, she wasn't always the greatest. I mean, when I was little it was easy - she was always around, ready to take care of me, took lots of time off and spent lots of money on a good babysitter when she did go back to work. With Ivy, things got bad. She was always out of the house, some nights she wouldn't come home at all. I assumed she was working late at first, but I'm sure she was doing more than that." I shook my head, glancing at the door to make sure Ivy wasn't about to burst in. "After Ivy was born Mom went dark, and I just sort of...took over. I think that's why she's not more upset, she's closer to me than she was with Mom."

"I'm so sorry, Serena." Emily said, pulling me in for a hug. "You've done so good, you know that, right? You're raised her so well. I just wish Sam and I had known sooner. We would've been there for you, for both of you."

"I know," I smiled at her carefully. "I wanted to thank you for being here now."

I let go of her just as Sam came clattering in the door, the sound of ten or eleven large, bare feet came with him.

Emily rushed to greet Sam, and I studied the crowd for Ivy.

"Where's my sister?" My face furrowed, studying Sam.

"Jake stole her from you, too, Sam." One of the boys laughed, and I crossed my arms, waiting for Sam to react.

His face was easy to read - he was a little disappointed, but mostly amused.

I had more questions than answers by the time Jacob Black came strolling in, ducking through the doorway with ivy on his shoulders. \

"See, Rena!" Ivy called out to me. She was a short thing, but on Jacob's shoulders she nearly hit her head on the ceilings. "Jacob doesn't think I'm too big."

Emily and I laughed before she broke away from Sam, announcing that dinner was ready.

As the other boys piled into the kitchen, I crossed to Jacob, reaching my arms up to pull Ivy down. Jacob waved them away, reaching up and pulling Ivy down himself.

"You should give Rena a turn!" Ivy exclaimed, none too quietly, and from the kitchen you could hear Sam's shouts of protest.

"I'm too big, Ivy." I rolled my eyes at her, cuffing her shoulder gently.

"Go on, make yourself a plate before those animals eat it all." Jacob said, ushering her towards the kitchen. I stopped him a few steps from the doorway; Ivy continued by herself.

"Jacob," I whispered. "She doesn't know about you all, and I don't want her to. At least for now."

Jacob nodded, grabbing my hand and guiding me into the dining room, catching up with Ivy.

()()()

Dinner was uneventful, except for the couple of times Ivy got careless with her magic and, being as she chose to give Jacob the seat between us, I had to have him remind her that no one is supposed to know.

If anyone else at the table noticed the mashed potatoes sliding towards her at record speed, they didn't say anything.

At the end of the meal, most of the pack hung around watching ESPN and discussing Bella and the Cullens. I still didn't know who this Bella girl was, or what she wanted, but I had yet to find a comfortable time to talk to Sam about it.

Ivy's bedtime rolled around all too quickly and, for the first time in eleven years of her life, I allowed her to skip nighttime meditations. Mostly because she wanted Jacob there to tuck her in. Luckily, he seemed as enthralled with her as she was with him.

Jacob and I guided Ivy to our room, Jacob helping her into bed while I retrieved her comforter from where it had been discarded on the porch this morning. It was cold to the touch and I was anxious to drape it over her, she was already shivering through her long johns, and I moved to give her my comforter instead.

Jacob snatched it out of my hands, wrapping himself up in it and crawling into bed with Ivy.

"Come on, Rena!" Ivy called, reaching out her hands for me to crawl in as well. I did so delicately, hearing the twin bed creak with the added weight. I prayed it wouldn't buckle beneath us.

Jacob unwrapped himself from the comforter, draping it over all three of us. It was warm to the touch, as if it came out of the dryer. I gave him a curious look.

'Wolf thing,' He mouthed to me, grinning.

I shook my head, turning to my sister.

"Are you going to say the prayer tonight, Ivy?" I said, raising an eyebrow at her.

Jacob looked at me, a little confused. I didn't bother to explain - just like this wolf stuff was new to me, the witch stuff was just as new to him. We'd figure it out together, if we figured it out at all.

"Do I have to?"

"I've already let you out of your midnight meditation, Ivy. At least do this for me."

"Fine, but you have to do it with me."

I nodded, and with a pout we began:

"Now I lay me down to rest

I pray that all the world be blessed

Lady Moon and Sister Star watch over me from afar

Mother Earth is always there

And keeps me safe within her care

The Lord of Dreams will dance and sing

And happy dreams to me will bring

And when I wake to greet the day

Brother Sun will light my way."

I could tell Ivy was getting tired and I motioned for Jacob and I to get off of her bed. I kissed her on the forehead, allowing Jacob to help me up from my spot between her and the wall.

"That was beautiful," He said to me, whispering still.

I shrugged. To me it was nothing special, something Mom had taught me when I was growing up, something I had passed on to Ivy. It was something I hoped she would pass down the line one day, too.

"Thank you, by the way." I said, nodding towards Ivy. "Thanks for being so good to her. She's never had a man around, especially a nice one."

"I'm around for as long as you want me to be," He smiled, leading me back towards the kitchen. "Actually, I'm surprised Sam let us alone for so long. He's been thinking about us the whole time."

"Oh right, the telepathy thing." I rolled my eyes, shaking my head. "I wouldn't want to be the one in your head, Jacob Black."

"You're right, especially when you're around." He said, sticking out his tongue and wiggling it around, making me giggle.

"He's lying!" Another boy called from the living room. "His thoughts are like miracle whip - all fluff and no substance."

"Shut up, Paul!" Jacob said, but he was blushing.

"Boys!" Sam boomed. Although he was far from yelling, his voice had a weight to it. "I think it's best you head home for the night, unless you're on patrols. We've got a sleeping kid in the house now, so if you want to stick around you'd better keep it down out here. Anything animal, take it outside."

His pack nodded at him, listening and understanding. From what I could see, Jacob was the only one who dared to challenge Sam or disobey his orders.

Jacob leaned down, kissing me lightly on the forehead.

"I've got first shift," I nodded at him as he hurried out the door, flanked by two other boys.

"As for you," Sam said, coming to stand by me, his voice softening. "You and I need to talk."

()()()

A/N - Thank you guys for reading! The Pagan prayer in here is not mine and I take no credit for it, I got it from nuannaarpoq's wordpress blog. xx.