Disclaimer: I do not own anything except for things you do not recognize. Song credit to Fall Out Boy. By the way, when I put song tidbits up here it's mostly from memory, so if it isn't exactly right at least you get the point.
Thanks once again for all the awesome reviews, I really appreciate them!
"Me and you
Setting in a honeymoon"
Me and You
It spread like wild fire, but what really got me was the fact that Henry confronted me about it before my own parents did. His Mother really was a horrible gossip. Of course by the next afternoon I was receiving the 'ha I told you so's' but I still had another thing to win.
Now the next bet around the Rez was that we'd be married before a whole year passed. Did they really want to start that process again? I doubted we would be married in a year, if we even married at all.
The one absolute perk of our relationship was that Tobin avoided me at all costs. I wasn't sure if Paul had confronted him or not, but I was completely fine with him ducking out of the teacher's lounge whenever I walked inside.
"So is Mr. Mire going to dress as a turkey for our party tomorrow?" Hannah asked after the final bell of the day had rung.
We were having a Thanksgiving party the next day and then the kids were on break for Turkey Day. This party wasn't going to be as great as the Halloween one, but we were going to make hand turkeys, eat some pumpkin bread, and talk about the first Thanksgiving.
"I don't think so…although that would be pretty funny." I chuckled.
"Well he is coming in isn't he?" She asked hopefully.
"Yeah he is."
When the smile lit up her face I knew. She had a crush on Paul! How sweet! I couldn't wait to tell him to see his reaction. He'd probably do one of those guy things like 'what, she's eight?' I'd have a crush on him too if I was eight so I didn't blame her.
Once Hannah had ducked out of the door I started to pack up my stuff for the weekend. I had some projects to grade as well as some math tests. I had already figured out how to squeeze the grading process between stuffing a turkey with my Mom and whipping up pumpkin pies.
I was bent over stuffing stuff into my bag with my back to the door so I didn't see him come in. So when his hands landed on my waist I jumped about a foot in the air and barely avoided hitting my head on his chin.
"Paul!" I screeched.
He grinned and I opened my mouth to scold him, but he beat me to it by covering my lips with his own. I thought about protesting for only a second before I was swept away into his kiss. My arms came up around his neck, and I pressed myself closer against his hard body. It wasn't until his lips skated down my neck that I remembered where we were.
"Paul, stop; there could still be children around." I said breathlessly.
"Fine." He grinned. "But guess what?"
"What?"
"My Mom is coming for dinner!"
I immediately hugged him. Paul hardly saw his Mom anymore ever since his Dad died two years ago in a car accident. She moved away to the Seattle area and with the pack business he could never find the time to get away to see her.
"Did you tell my Mom?" I asked, referring to our little Thanksgiving.
The whole pack was going to have a dinner, but my parents felt that as an 'eventual family unit', which was them assuming Paul and I would be married soon, we needed to have our own dinner.
"Yup, and my Mom knows she'll get to meet my imprint."
I huffed and pulled away from him, "Well I thought I was more than that."
Paul chuckled and placed his hands back on my hips, "My best friend maybe?"
"That's more like it, doofo."
"Doofo?!" Paul asked with a bemused smile.
"Something I came up with to call my brother, but I think it applies to you too. Anyway, I need to get home so I can start on the pumpkin bread." I took a breath. "That reminds me, Hannah has a crush on you."
He made a face, that typical dumb guy face, "That's weird."
"She's a little girl; they have crushes on older men. I remember I had a crush on Mr. Black when I was really little, and then on Sam right before we moved away."
"Billy?!"
"He was so nice and good looking!"
"Sam?" He quirked a brow.
"He saved my puppy from getting hit by a car."
Paul chuckled darkly, "Wait until he sees that in my thoughts."
"Doofo." I muttered.
***
The party went off without a hitch. It didn't live up to the Halloween party, but I had big plans for Christmas that would totally top mummifying Paul and making caramel apples. At the end of the day I sent home my little pumpkin stuffed turkeys and packed up the rest of my stuff for the weekend.
With pies to bake the evening flew by, leaving the house smelling delicious and attracting more than one stray wolf. After Paul kicked them out, he left for the night leaving me with nothing but my stuffed bear to cuddle with for the night.
"You look like I kicked you in the balls." Paul casually stated as he walked past Matt to where I stood in the hallway to the kitchen the next morning.
"Leave him alone; he's upset he can't be with Abby today." I scolded.
"Paul gets to be with you." Matt mumbled as he crossed his arms over his chest. "Everyone gets to be with their imprint but me!"
"Matthew Hanner you will stop that whining right now or so help me…" Mom warned from the kitchen.
We didn't need to see her face to know how serious she was. She had used that classic tone of voice that spelled trouble and when that was combined with the use of your full name…things could end up pretty bad. Back in the day it used to end with a sore butt, nowadays it could be anything; anything from pain to public humiliation.
"Natalie, Paul, get out here and help me."
We jumped to it. Mom put Paul to work carving up the Turkey while I worked on mashing the potatoes to Mom's level of perfection.
"We're not even supposed to really celebrate Thanksgiving." Paul mumbled after Mom 'kindly' told him that he was doing it wrong.
"What do you mean?"
"We're Native Americans! We got screwed! We showed them how to plant some corn and how did they thank us? By giving us small pox and taking our land."
"You can think of it as an excuse to eats tons of food; I think that's why my Mom's family started to do it. That and my Grandpa loved pies and turkey."
Paul nodded thoughtfully, "That is true."
"Exactly, now get back to carving before Mom gets back in here." I hissed before I turned back to the potatoes.
We worked in silence for a few minutes before a car pulled into the driveway. I immediately knew that it was Paul's Mom since she was the only other one we were expecting. So naturally I got nervous…rather quickly. Before Paul could move past me and out of the kitchen I grabbed his arm and turned him to face me.
"What's wrong?" He asked gently.
"Do I look okay?" I asked hesitantly.
Paul took his time letting his eyes roam over my body which was decked out in a pair of dark jeans and a nice purple sweater. When his eyes finally returned to my face I sent him a small scowl before I nervously ran a hand through my hair.
"You're beautiful and as long as you're yourself my Mom will love you."
With that said he grabbed my hand and the two of us headed into the living room where his Mom was talking to my parents. Matt was on the couch pouting, but I hardly paid him any attention as I took in Mrs. Mire.
She was beautiful. I knew that she was in her late forties, but she didn't look it. Her wavy black hair only had a few strands of gray mixed in but they only served to enhance her delicately lined face. When our eyes met she smiled warmly and already I was in love with the lady. She was beautiful.
"This must be Natalie." She smiled as she held out her arms for me.
I didn't hesitate; I walked right into her arms and gave her a quick hug before Paul pulled her into his own bear hug. She pulled away laughing and watched as Paul casually slid his arm around my waist. She then turned to look at my parents.
"I think you're right; they will have good looking kids."
I shot my Dad a look. Seriously Dad?! He just meets the lady and is already talking about her son and his daughter procreating?
"Paul does not look adverse to that idea." She chuckled darkly.
"Well, let's not give them any ideas right now, Penny." My Mom quickly inserted.
"Thank you Mom."
Penny smiled at me, "I was teasing, sweetie. Although, I can't say the same for your Dad. Do you need any help in the kitchen?"
"Well it looks like my two helpers are going to abandon me, so sure." Mom replied.
A half hour later all six of us were gathered around the dining room table digging into our Thanksgiving meal. A quick glance around the table before I turned my attention to applying gravy told me that everyone was enjoying themselves except Matt; no surprise there. Paul was busy shoving food in his mouth at an alarming rate, Dad was listening as Penny and Mom talked about the best wedding months, and I was pouring gravy.
"I've always liked late September." Mom was saying. "I always regretted marrying in July; it was too hot."
"Paul's Father and I were married in May, but I agree; fall is a great time to get married."
"Oh wouldn't Natalie look beautiful with fall colors surrounding her!?" Mom squealed.
"Hey!" I quickly inserted. "First of all, I am not even engaged. Secondly, if I were to be engaged I would decide when the wedding would be."
They ignored me and went back to talking about how pumpkins could be used in a center piece for tables. In fact I wasn't even sure if anyone had heard me besides Paul. He sent me a grin before he placed his hot hand on my upper thigh. I almost choked on the piece of turkey in my mouth when he thumb stroked the inside of my thigh. Even through my jeans it made me shiver.
"Paul." I hissed.
He just grinned in response before he shoved some more turkey in his mouth, but he did not move his hand. That hand was there throughout second helpings and then when Mom served up some pie. He only let go of me when I insisted on using the bathroom.
Penny was in the hallway when I emerged.
"Sorry if we freaked you out at the table, I'm just excited that Paul finally imprinted and on such a wonderful young lady."
I blushed, "Thank you."
"You'll have to forgive us old people for being busybodies." She chuckled.
"It's alright; as long as you guys don't start ordering flower arrangements I'm alright."
***
It was hard to think when Paul's lips were on mine and his arms were wrapped around my body, but I couldn't let him distract me. I had something I needed to say to him…of course one more minute of kissing wouldn't hurt anything.
Ten minutes later I finally succeeded in pushing him off of me; more like he got sick off feeling me nudge him with my hands. With him being all wolfy I didn't exactly have much strength compared to him.
"I want you to promise me something." I stated.
"What?"
"Don't ask me to marry you before we've been dating for at least a year."
"Why?"
"Because we rule our own lives, Paul; not the rest of the reservation."
He scuffed, "If we rule our own lives doesn't that mean that I should be able to ask you whenever I want?"
"No, I said our lives…our life together. You know what…I guess if you do ask, I'll just say no."
"You aren't making much sense right now, so I'm just going to kiss you again."
I rolled my eyes before his lips crushed back down onto mine again. He thought I wasn't being serious! I was a believer in dating someone for more than a few months before marriage. Even if fate had decided we were perfect for each other that didn't mean we couldn't get used to everything about each other before we were married. I didn't want to be like my parents who had a hard first year of marriage when they realized just how annoying the other could be since they married after six months of dating.
"You won't yell at me if I ask you on a date will you?" Paul asked after he separated his lips from mine.
"Of course not." I smiled. "It's about time you take me on an official date."
"How about I pick you up tomorrow at six?"
"Where are we going?" I asked a bit eagerly.
"I guess you'll have to wait and see."
