A/N: For all you rabid readers (and I do mean rabid; I've had people threaten to kill me and enslave my ghost to write forever if I don't satisfy their need to read my story with regular updates...I think it's a compliment), here's the new chapter. I answered some of your questions in a seperate chapter, but I took it down because, well...I just did. Hahaha. Finally out of that certain time frame rut...as much as I loved writing for the Nessie/Jake/Embry crew, I'm glad I'm finally able to move forward and write about Sera growing up.
This chapter will have some action and violence. Not to M level, but just be warned.
"You need not be sorry for her. She was one of the kind that likes to grow up. In the end she grew up of her own free will a day quicker than the other girls."
J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan
No chapter song this time.
Seth POV
Things were much better after that.
Embry and Jake began healing their relationship. It was strained at times, and there wasn't much possibility of them being close as they were before, but I know that from being in their heads on a regular basis, they wouldn't have changed a thing. Especially Embry, who was miserable for so long, and now didn't even know what to do half of the time with all of the happiness he had.
He usually shared his happiness with Allegra.
When we told Nessie about the imprint, she didn't have a conniption like everyone assumed, and for that, I was permanently grateful that I would not be forced to help with more rennovations after the aftermath of a Nessie tantrum.
Nessie rustled in her sheets. We were all in the room, excitedly watching her come out of comatose. Carlisle had taken out her stitches about an hour ago, and since then, she had been slowly waking up.
"Ah – hmm, where am I?" Nessie muttured, still a little groggy from the meds.
"Baby? Ness? Are you okay?" Jacob asked, flinging himself to the side of her bed, brushing her hair out of face, feeling her forehead, checking her pulse – basically, mothering her.
"I'm okay, Jake," she said quietly, finally coming fully out of her daze.
It took a few seconds before she realized that she had a kid not too long ago. Her hands flew to her stomach, feeling the new skin there, her eyes searching wildly for a baby that looked like her and Jake.
"The baby?" she whispered.
"She's beautiful, just like you," Jacob told her, smiling.
"She?" she asked. Yeah, she'd been out a long time. She wasn't even around long enough to find out whether or not it was a boy or a girl.
"Allegra." Jacob said her name in the same way religious people say God. Reverence.
"Where is she?" Renesmee asked, continuing to look around.
"Downstairs. With, er – Embry." Jacob muttered.
And here came the fireworks. "Embry?" Nessie shrieked, "He'll kill her!" Nessie went into mother hen/vampire mode, and she swung her legs off the bed, a fierce look in her eyes. I couldn't help it. I winced and shrank away from the bed. Don't get me wrong, I love Nessie, and I would take a bullet for her any day, but that woman scared me.
"Nessie, he's not going to hurt her," Jacob said calmly, gently sliding her legs back under the sheet. She looked at him with an incredulous expression.
"You've got to be kidding me! He wanted nothing to do with that baby before, what changed – "
Nessie cut off suddenly. She watched our faces, and we watched hers morph into one of understanding – and realization. We told the story without having to say a word.
Nessie sank lower into the pillow. Her brown eyes were wide with the wave of realization that was washing over her at that very moment. Personally, I thought she looked a little queasy. Edward heard my thoughts, and pulled up a trash can for her just in case. It was handy having a guy in the house that knew your thoughts sometimes.
"What happened while I was out?" Nessie whispered, looking at all of us in the eye.
And so we told her. Everyone had a say in what happened from their point of view, starting from seconds before labor, to the delivery, to the imprint, to the fight on the lawn. We told her about the connection Embry and Allegra shared already. How he's already completely hers. Everyone said their bit, except for Embry. We dedicated maybe thirty minutes just explaining everything that happened in the two days she was out.
"And Embry's downstairs." After all we said to her, this was the very first thing she said to us. I didn't really blame her though. A hell of a lot happened, so I would probably go for the most easily processable thing too.
Jacob seemed to pick up on this. But then again, they had an imprint bond between them. I could probably do the same thing with Sera. "Nessie, I know this is a lot. He's downstairs. Allegra is with him, and she's completely safe and happy." Jake rubbed soothing circles on the back of her hand, while she stared blankly at the wall. I started to figet uncomfortably. What could possibly be going on in her head?
And like always, Nessie did the very last thing we expected her to do: she started laughing.
She doubled over in laughter. She was literally shaking she was laughing so hard. Tears rolled down her face. We all watched with wide eyes, including Sera, who was looking at her cousin like she was a science experiment and didn't understand the reaction it made. Emmett started chortling too (but Emmett thought everything was perpetually funny, so I wasn't surprised), until Jasper nudged him.
When her laughter finally started to die down, she managed out, "Oh my god! It makes so much sense now!" she chuckled.
Jacob's eyebrows shot up to his hairline. "You're kidding, right?"
Ness laughed and shook her head. "Of course not. This is marvelous."
Jacob stared at Nessie like she had just said that she was secretly a dolphin.
Nessie calmed down a bit after that, but still wore a wide grin on her face. "My baby. She has an imprint too!"
Jacob looked like he just got bitch-slapped. "Wait a second. You're happy about this?"
"Why wouldn't I be?" she asked, confused.
"Um, I don't know, considering that she already has a claim on her before you could even get to hold her?" he retorted.
She sobered up. "Jake, she has a built-in best friend now. I grew up with one, and now she gets one too."
Jake started to lightly bang his head on the side table. Nessie laughed and ran her fingers through is hair. "I swear to god, Renesmee. I could spend three eternities with you, and you will never fail to amaze me."
Nessie smiled. "Can I see our daughter?"
As if on cue, Embry emerged into the room looking a lot better than he did a week ago, holding Allegra in his arms. Allegra looked every bit as beautiful as Nessie did when she was a baby. Because the vampire gene was dominant, she grew as fast as Nessie, and retained all the half-vampire characteristics.
We didn't know if Allegra had a power yet or not. We'd find out soon enough.
Nessie sucked in a gasp. Her eyes immediately watered, and she seemed at a loss for words. "She's... so beautiful. Is she ours?" she whispered.
"Can you believe it?" Jacob whispered back, kissing her cheek.
Embry walked over to Nessie and slipped Allegra into her waiting arms. We all held our breath.
"Hi, Allegra," she whispered, looking into her daughter's bright green eyes, "I'm your mommy. I'll try to be the best one I can be. And if I'm ever not, I can at least count on Em over here to pull up the reins."
"You'll be a good mother, Ness," Embry told her, smiling.
Nessie returned the smile genuinely. "And you'll make a good imprint."
It wasn't quite rainbows and sunshine yet, but it was a lot less uneventful nowadays, much to Emmett's disappointment.
"You know, I kinda like having you wolves aorund," Emmett commented to me one day over a round of Call of Duty, "Y'all make everything fun around here. It's too monotone."
That was Emmett's point of veiw on things.
Personally, I liked the monotone. Embry almost dying, my almost-sister being ripped open, and Embry imprinting on my best friend's baby was a little too eventful for my tatse, especially since my imprint witnessed it all. Sera handled it a lot better than anyone expected her to do, probably because she already saw it happen in her visions and had time to mentally prepare for it. Whatever it was, although she handled it well, she simply preferred not to talk about it.
As much as I didn't want to leave La Push, it was nice to go back to Idaho for some normalcy. I just hated the look on Sera's face when Alice told her we were leaving.
"Why do we have to go?" Sera whined.
"Honey," Alice said gently, "Seth will bring you back soon. We all will."
"No! My friends are here! My human friends! And the pack! Seth, tell her!" Sera shrieked, her eyes filling with tears instantly.
My body started to quiver and I had to fight the urge to give in to her. "I –uh – Sera, I promise I will take you back as soon as possible. We just need to go back to Idaho for a little while."
"But why? I never want to go back to Idaho! I want to live in La Push!" Sera wailed, the tears flowing now.
Alice had a pained look on her face. "Sera, I know you want to stay, but –"
"Why can't we live here?" Sera asked. Well, I'll be damned. Why couldn't we live here?
"We spent too much time here before. We don't want to endanger our family, right?" Alice pleaded, pulling out the "family is first" card that always worked on her. Well, most of the time.
"But Seth's friends are here, Mommy! He wants to stay, and I want to stay with him!" she wailed again. Maybe not.
"Seth goes where you go," Alice reminded her.
I felt myself relax a little bit. "It's true, Seraphina," I said, ruffling her hair, "I'll go wherever you go. But for now, we need to go back to Idaho. Priorities and all that," I said, winking at her. She let out my secretly favorite huff, which I thought was adorable, but would never tell her that because she only did it when she was annoyed. That would be like putting gasoline on a fire.
But then again, I thought that just about everything she did was the single freaking most adorable thing I ever saw. But how could you not with someone as amazing as her?
"I hate priorities," she mumbled. I bit my lip to keep from laughing.
"They're not all that bad. You're my priority, did you know that?" I told her.
Sera smiled coyly. "I did."
I laughed. She was too damn cute. "And how did you figure that one out?" I already knew the answer to that though. Sera knew everything.
Sera laughed. "Every time I play a sport, you make sure that I have padding on every inch of my skin, even though I can't be hurt because I'm indestructable."
"That's just being overprotective," I said, smiling.
Sera raised her eyebrow. "I told you to bark at someone when I was younger, and you did."
I had no comeback.
Alice's trilling laugh started, and downstairs, Rosalie and Jasper joined in. I laughed too. "What can I say? It's in my nature."
"But I'm also your first priority," she said.
I smiled at her, and ducked down to kiss the top of her head. "Yes you are."
Within a week of Embry's imprint, we were packed up and ready to go back to Idaho. I was ready to spend time back in the old Pack house and chill out for the time being, instead of running back and forth in between Forks and La Push.
I was especially glad for today, because today was Sera's first birthday.
I was practically hopping up and down wherever I went. Dawn had barely cracked the horizon and I was already up, showered, and making coffee.
Embry emerged downstairs about an hour later. He looked at me and rolled his eyes.
"You look like you're about to piss all over yourself," Embry muttered as he pulled a mug out of the kitchen cabinet. Well, if there was one thing you could never change about Embry, it would be his sarcasm. He held it to an art form. I laughed at his disgruntled expression. He wasn't a morning person; me, pretty much any time of day was my time of day.
"Good morning, sunshine," I said, flexing my own new sarcasm muscles. When I was a teenager and still in the La Push pack, Leah would always say "I wouldn't know sarcasm if it came up and kicked me in the side of the head." She would be glad to know that I would actually use some now. It was weak and pitiful, but still sarcasm. Hey, I was learning.
Embry snorted. "So. Seraphina turning the big uno today. Your thoughts, Mom?"
I chuckled. "Shut up. I'm not her mom."
He raised an eyebrow at me. "That you aren't."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
He shook his head. "Nothing. So what did you get her?"
I decided to ignore his comment. "Before we left, I went to Seattle to pick her up something nice for her birthday. You know, something special." I pulled out a silk bag from my pocket. "I was browsing in windows and stuff, and I saw a necklace in a window to a fancy store that caught my eye." I shook out the necklace and handed it to Embry so he could get a better look. The pendant was a white-gold oval about the size of a quarter, with a small diamond and a small sapphire, the exact same shade as Sera's eyes, sitting side-by-side to each other at the top. On the face on the pendant had etched words on it.
He stumbled over the words. "Mon suel rêve," he read, "What does that mean?"
I pronounced it correctly and then told him. "It's French for 'my only dream.' I thought it was kinda perfect. She gets to have dreams about the future, but she's all I dream about." I shrugged.
It was true. I wasn't saying it to be a sap. Since I imprinted on her a year ago today – a year ago! – she's the only one I've ever dreamed about. Ever since I had that dream about us on First Beach, it had been a reoccuring one constantly. And I was completely okay with that.
He nodded. "That is perfect. I might have to get something for Allegra like this when she gets older. She started walking the other day, did you know that?" His face took on a proud expression.
"I was there when she started walking," I reminded him, but not condescendingly. I knew that all imprinters, including myself, loved nothing more than to talk about their imprints' achievements. I had told everyone in the pack at least 5 times that her first sentence was "I want Seth" when she first said it.
"Oh yeah," he said, scrunching his forehead. Allegra was a week-and-a-half old when she started watching Bella intently as she cooked, dancing around the kitchen to some 80's music. Allegra stood up and suddenly, out of no where, started walking around gracefully like she had been doing it her whole life (assuming she was older) and it was no big deal. It was funny that she learned grace from Bella, who back in her human days, couldn't even put one foot in front of the other without tripping on a flat surface, or any kind of surface, really. Embry took his imprint out for "celebratory ice cream" after that.
I smiled. "It's okay, happens to all of us. I like to call it a 'poud imprint moment.'"
"You would know, wouldn't you, Clearwater?" he said.
I grinned. "Absolutely. And she's turning a year old today. God, I can't imagine anyone more amazing that her. She's a year old and she's the most special person I know."
Embry rolled his eyes. "You sound like the rest of them."
I raised my eyebrow. "You've been an imprinter for what, almost two-and-a-half weeks now? Get used to the fact that you're on the same team as the 'rest of us,'" I air quoted.
Embry smiled to himself. "Yeah...guess I am now."
He didn't seem like he was suffering or unhappy about that fact in the slightest.
Jacob walked in through the door just then, holding Nessie's hand. Allegra walked in after them, and immediately bounded straight to Embry. His face lit up like a little kid's on Christmas morning when he picked her up.
"Hey, Allie-cat!" he said, and kissed her forehead.
"Allie-cat?" Nessie asked, smirking.
Embry smiled sheepishly. "Yeah...it's kinda traditional for the wolves to give our girls nicknames, right?"
He didn't outright say "imprint" anymore because Allegra was freakishly smart. She wasn't as smart as Sera (maybe that was the proud imprinter in me), but still too smart for her own good. Jacob and Nessie still didn't know if they should let Allegra in on the secret like Alice had let Sera, but the main reason Sera was told was because she had, for the most part, figured it out herself. Everyone was extremely careful with not slipping up around Allegra.
Even now, Allegra was looking at Embry with a mixed awe that was normal for imprints at this age. She was hanging onto every word he said, and it would be a major slip-up if he ever mentioned "imprinting" within earshot of her. I still remember when Seraphina would do the same to me, hang onto every word I said like it was the last word she would ever hear.
And now, she was a year old. She looked five. Her aging was slowing, but it was still rapid.
Sera was smarter than Nessie was at the age surprisingly. Sera was already fluent in Russian, Mandarin, Spanish, and French (hence the necklace). She was working on her Latin and Irish Gaelic right now (don't ask me what Gaelic is...it's a weird language, and even weirder to hear Edward and Alice speak it to her). It didn't matter though. Sera was too amazing to not be expected to be fluent in every language known to man.
Maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration. But she was on her way up to that point.
"Earth to Seth," Nessie said, snapping her fingers in front of my face.
"Wha-?" I said, blinking out of my daze and looking around.
I felt genuinely shocked to be standing in the kitchen. I could have sworn that I was with Sera in all the time I had been thinking obsessively about her. The thought of her made me miss her, like I was being punched in the gut. I needed to be with Sera. The good thing about living back at Forks, although temporarily, was that I slept in the same house she did, so I would always be around her. Now that I lived back in the seperate Pack house in Idaho, I had way too much downtime on my hands – especially when I wasn't with Sera. And it wasn't like I could pop into to La Push whenever I felt like or be too preoccupied about the "Embry mess" to worry about what I was doing with my free time. Yep, I definitely enjoyed being in Forks better.
But Sera was here, and I knew that if I was given the choice, I would choose her and Idaho every time.
"I think he needs another cup of coffee," I heard Jake mutter to Nessie.
"What?" I said, dragging myself back to reality for the second time.
"Nice to see you back on Earth, Clearwater," Embry commented.
"I was trying to ask you when you're planning on getting ready to go to your imprint's birthday party, but I mean, if you'd rather think about her than see her..." Jake said, trailing off, raising his eyebrow at me.
"Sera. Birthday party. Right." I marched upstairs to go get dressed, listening to them snicker behind me.
I walked into my room to find Edward standing in it.
"Edward!" I greeted, giving my best friend the "bro hug." Yes, the bro hug. Don't make fun of me for it.
"Eddie's upstairs?" Jake yelled from the kitchen. I heard Nessie and Embry chuckle.
Edward growled. If there was one thing I knew about Edward, it was that he hated being called "Eddie." "Shut it, dog. And hello, darling," he called back, greeting Ness.
"Oh, Edward, you sweet talker, you," Embry called. Jacob, Renesmee, and I erupted into laugher. Embry was a lot of things, but that guy's sarcasm was hilarious.
Edward chuckled. "Hello, Embry," he said.
"This is all going so fast! Oh Edward, what ever will I tell my papa?" he said, pretending to be flustered. Oh dear.
Edward rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to comment." Embry, Nessie, and Jake all laughed.
He shook his head and looked at me. I then noticed the white box he held in his hand. "This is for you, from Alice. She's convinced that if she didn't dress you for important events, you would show up perpetually half-naked, or in your 'phasing clothes,' as she likes to call them."
"I know how to look presentable," I mumbled. I felt weirdly self-concious. I mean, just because I was a wolf and it was a lot more convenient to stay half-naked all the time doesn't mean I didn't know how to dress myself.
Edward nodded in agreement. "I tried to plead your case. But Alice is as stubborn about wardrobes as Sera is about not caring about wardrobes."
I shook my head at Sera and Alice's biggest disagreement. "I guess I take after Sera a little bit in that way."
He cocked an eyebrow. "Or she takes after you in that way."
I almost took a step back. I never thought about it like that. I always assumed that I was similar to Sera because I took after her in certain things, but it had never occured to me that I would be the one influencing her. She always just seemed really mature, and sometimes acted older than even me, therefore, she would be more the influencer than the influencee. But now that Edward brought it up, it actually made a lot more sense. I could care less what I had on my body as long as it covered the necessary parts. Maybe she thought the same way because she had always preferred to be around me. And I always walked around half-naked.
Edward nodded. "It's true. You're a lot more influential to her life than you give yourself credit for."
Even though I knew in my heart of hearts for this to be true, it still came as a shock. But I should have known. I had been around ever since she was born. I had been one of the first faces she saw. I should've known that I was extremely influential to her life.
I still got a surge of pleasure when I heard that. I had influenced her. Someone as amazing of her, and I had gotten the opportunity – no, the honor – of influencing her. Seraphina Marie Cullen-Whitlock. My imprint. My only dream.
Edward laughed. "Hero worship."
I laughed too. "Maybe a little bit."
"I like the present, by the way. It fits her." Edward grinned at me.
"Thanks. It just screamed 'Sera,' so I couldn't pass it up." At this rate, she was going to have a piece of jewelry from me at every major holiday in her life. Her first Christmas, I gave her a Quileute promise bracelet, and for her first (real) birthday, I'd be giving her a fancy necklace.
"We just can't help but spoil our special ladies, now can't we?" Edward said, and winked. I nodded in agreement. I spoiled Sera as much as I could, probably more than what was recommended or normal.
Edward set the box on the bed and walked towards the window. "You know how to tie a tie, right?"
I rolled my eyes. "Alice really thinks I'm that dumb?"
He laughed. "Maybe not dumb, but incompetant."
"Aren't they the same thing?" I grumbled.
He grinned. "Fairly so."
And on that note, he stepped out the window and darted away.
I shook my head, and opened the box. A slender black tie rested on the top of a blue and white plaid shirt that looked like it would be a slightly tight fit, therefore would make my muscles stand out. Underneath were a pair of dark designer denim jeans that actually looked skinny, and a note: I told Seraphina that she could wear her blue Converse with her outfit today, so I got you a matching pair. They're in your closet; -Alice.
With my curiosity spiked, I walked to my closet and opened my door. Sure enough, a pair of bright blue Chucks rested right in the middle of the closet floor. Alice, I thought to myself. It seemed like the universal explanation for all things.
I grinned at its brilliance. I slipped on my outfit, and then lastly, the bright blue Converse that Sera was in love with.
I had to hand it to Alice. I expected her to dress me similar to Edward or even Emmett with the khakis and pullovers, but I actually looked kinda awesome with my laid-back look. However, Alice was known for giving each person in the family a seperate style, and I guess mine was the leather jacket-and-plaid shirts style. I thought it was cool, so I would just roll with it. The jeans were kinda loose, but cut close to my body. I felt weird. I had never worn skinny jeans before.
I walked downstairs, and Nessie let out a low whistle. "Damn, Clearwater. Jake, don't get jealous, but Seth, you look hot."
Jacob frowned and I blushed. "Thanks, Ness. It's Alice's creation."
"Give Alice props when you see her," she told me honestly.
I laughed. "Is it that good?"
Nessie nodded. "Like I said, you look hot."
I shook my head, and Jacob continued to frown. "You didn't say anything about my outfit..." Jacob whined. He motioned to his plain white v-neck shirt, his leather jacket, and his dark jeans.
Nessie laughed. "Jake, you already know that I think you're just about the hottest thing that I've ever seen, so give Seth some slack."
Jacob grinned and relaxed. "Okay, I'm better."
I snorted, and Nessie rolled her eyes. Embry and Allegra were off in their little world, sitting at the kitchen table. Allegra was playing with her frilly dress, and Embry was looking at her like she was his personal sun and moon.
Jake rolled his eyes at them. "I'm ready to go. Let's get this show on the road."
The Idaho driveway wasn't as long as the Forks driveway, but it was still draped with thousands of lights sparkling down the entire path. Alice was many things, but when it came to decorating and dressing people, she was a genius.
It was a surprise for Sera, but the whole La Push gang, pack and imprints, was coming down for her birthday, a gift a la Cullens. How they managed to keep it from Sera, I had no idea.
The five of us got out of the car, and walked inside the twinkling house.
To say that it was amazing would be an understatement.
Blue and white streamers hung from every corner of every room. Twinkling lights draped the entry room, and wound all the way into the kitchen and living room. The posts and stairs were draped with flowers that had sweet scents that flooded my nose. Alice had draped every single piece of furniture in the house with dark blue and white cloth. It pretty much looked like the classiest little kid's birthday party I had ever been to. My mouth fell open with a pop.
"Holy crap," I mouthed.
"Thanks," Alice said, appearing in front of me.
"This is amazing, Alice," I told her honestly.
She smiled. "Thank you, Seth. You don't think it's too much?"
It was my turn to smile at her. "It's Sera's birthday. Anything we do for her would never be too much."
She grinned. "Do you like your outfit too?"
I laughed. "Nessie said I looked hot. So yeah. I like this look you're going for."
Before she had a chance to respond, Sera emerged into the room. Her wild hair was tamed and pinned back with silver barretts. She was wearing a light blue dress with sliver streaks in it, and of course, the bright blue Chucks.
"Hey, that's funny, we have the same shoes!" I exclaimed, lifting my foot up to show her. Her entire face brightened.
"We're matching!" she said, and ran to hug my leg. I ducked down to kiss the top of her head.
"Happy birthday, Seraphina," I whispered to her.
She grinned at me. "Thanks."
"Woo! Let's get the party started!" Emmett boomed from upstairs, holding Rosalie's hand. She laughed at her husband.
"Happy birthday, Sera," Rosalie said, walking over to kiss her neice.
"Happy birthday!" Nessie yelled, and hugged her cousin tightly.
"Happy birthday," Edward said, kissing the top of her head.
"Another year older, eh? Is that a gray hair I see?" Bella said, smiling at Sera. Sera grinned.
"Happy birthday, darling," Carlisle said, emerging from the kitchen with Esme. Sera walked over to them, and Esme picked her up and kissed her forehead. Carlisle did the same.
They set Sera down, and she turned to look at her parents. They were hugging each other, grinning broadly at their daughter. Sera ran over to them and shot herself into their arms.
"Happy birthday, darlin'," Jasper said, hugging her close.
"Happy birthday, baby," Alice said, kissing her cheeks. Sera laughed.
"Thank you," she said sweetly. I had to bite my tongue to stop myself from saying "awwwww." If she could be any cuter, I would melt.
Edward chuckled at me, and I had to remind myself for the fiftieth time to stop such a sap.
I was so distracted that I didn't even hear them come in. "Whatchu talkin' about, there ain't no 'happy birthday' unless you get one from the Quileute wolves!"
Laughing, they all came in from the back as a group. Sera shrieked and burst out into laughter, and ran over to the group. You haven't seen a group hug until you've been surrounded by nineteen huge wolves.
All the imprints were there too. Quil had Claire, who was embracing Sera tightly. Then of course, the usual- Sam and Emily, Jared and Kim, Rachel and Paul. Collin had Darcy, who was actually a very pretty girl with auburn hair and gold-flecked green eyes. She was fairly tall too; close to 5'10. Who knows, maybe she was a model. There was the Volturi wolves, only one who had found their imprint; Kiowa, who had imprinted on a chick named Taylor, a petite blonde girl with a Southern twang. Jameson Spencer had Aria Uley wrapped around his leg. He had imprinted on the nine-year-old girl with her father's temper shortly after becoming a wolf.
I saw with a surge of pleasure that my mom, Billy, and even Charlie had showed up too. I grinned and ran to hug my mom.
"Congrats," she said to me.
"Thanks, Ma."
I let go of my mom, and turned to Billy. "Seth," Billy said, smiling.
I hugged Billy, and he carted himself forward to go hug his Jacob, who was hugging Rachel.
"Seth, how's Idaho treating you?" Charlie said as a way of greeting.
"Awesome. It's fun," I said, and shook his hand.
"Any college?" he asked curiously.
I shrugged. "Maybe."
I had given college a lot of thought before the Volturi visit and basically becoming a Cullen. Since then, it had never crossed my mind much. I had graduated early since I had good grades and took some extra classes online in the spare time I had. It was a good thing being in Jake's pack at that time, because he had agreed to give me as much time as I wanted to finish up my courses. I had passed my senior year with all A's, and I was only a junior when I did it.
But now, since I imprinted, I wasn't thinking of anything except Sera much.
"University of Washington has a good engineering program. Sue tells me you're a math and science whiz. It would be good for someone like you."
I couldn't deny it. I was in Advanced Calculus my "senior year," and took Advanced Physics and Advanced Chemistry as well, except I had to go back to the high school to take labs and such. I used to confuse Jacob and Embry incessantly whenever I thought about my homework, since neither of them finished high school and my homework probably looked closer to a foreign language than anything. But I couldn't help it; they were my strong subjects.
"I'll think about it," I told him.
Charlie nodded, and moved on to greet Nessie.
Collin slapped me on the back. "Hey man. How's the vamp coven treating you?"
I saw Darcy openly flinch and shudder when Collin said "vamp." He smiled apologetically, and rubbed soothing circles on her back.
I smiled warmly at her. "It's Darcy, right? I'm Seth. I don't think we've met before. I was in town a couple of weeks ago, but we must've missed each other."
She smiled. "Hey Seth. Yeah, I guess so. I mean, Collin and I just started recently going out, so..."
I had heard Collin complaining about this when we were in La Push. He had saved her life, and she had kissed him, but when she got home she must've snapped out of her shock of the time, and realized that she had kissed a guy that turned into a wolf. She spent a week avoiding him, even though he tried talking to her whenever he got the chance.
She had finally agreed to go on a date with him so he could clear the air, and surprisingly, he had ended up confessing everything. Even the imprint. Normally, that would be a first date screw-up, but it was hard to deny the power of an imprint, and it wasn't like he had to prove he could transform into a wolf or anything.
This girl had my respect. She was good with weird.
"I see. Well, Collin's like a brother to me, so trust me when I say that I've been in his head before, and he means well." I smiled at her, and Collin beamed.
Darcy peaked at Collin with her long eyelashes. It didn't matter if I was imprinted or not, I had to admit that Darcy was stunning. "I know he does."
The look she gave him said it all. I didn't know if she had said it yet, but she was definitely in love with him.
I moved on, and after greeting everyone individually, it started to settle down a little bit.
Paul and Brady had caught Emmett bragging about his Call of Duty skills, so they challenged each other to a three-way duel, and to say it was intense would be an underkill. I thought that Paul was going to phase when Emmett won the first couple times.
Alice had turned on some music, and some of the couples were dancing under the twinkling lights. Sera had dragged me out of the living room and made me dance with her just as You and Me by Lifehouse came on.
I picked her up and twirled her around in my arms. She giggled adorably.
"I wish I could have a birthday everyday," she said contentedly, looking around at everyone. Alice and Jasper, Sam and Emily, Claire and Quil, Jameson ad Aria, Collin and Darcy, Jared and Kim, Edward and Bella, and Kiowa and Taylor all danced around us. Leah and Jacob sat together in the corner, talking animatedly. Mom was holding Lucas, and Charlie and she were playing patty-cake with him. Rosalie sat next to Emmett while he played Call of Duty, but Brady was getting distracted Rosalie flipping her hair and crossing her legs in front of him. Rachel sat on the couch next to Paul, holding little six-year-old Mason Uley in her lap, shaking her head at his outbursts. Embry was feeding Allegra from a metal cup. Alex, Harrison, Josh, Kyle, Anthony, Ethan, and Gavin were all sitting at the kitchen table, talking with Carlisle and Esme and Nessie. I tried to stiffle my laughter as I saw a couple of them check out Nessie when she wasn't looking. Billy sat next to his daughter, talking to her and distracting her from her husband's violent outbursts.
I smiled and kissed her head. "It's a nice birthday. But that's what makes it special, is that is only happens once a year. And this one's extra special because it's your very first one."
She smiled too. "Mom did good."
I laughed, and from across the dance floor, Alice winked at us, and Japser grinned.
"I like your shoes, Seth," she mumbled into my neck. I laughed out loud again.
"I like yours too," I said.
The song ended, and I set Sera down. Collin and Darcy approached us.
"Wanna go outside? I'm getting a little hot," Darcy said to me.
"Sure. Is Sera invited?" I asked, smiling.
Darcy grinned. "Well, of course. This is her party, after all."
Sera smiled, and she took my hand in hers as we walked out to the back porch.
"So how are you guys doing?" I asked, settling in with Sera on my lap.
They smiled at each other. "We're doing great," Darcy said.
"That's good," I said honestly, "Well, Darcy, tell me about yourself. Where do you live?"
"I live on campus at the University of Washington. I'm a sophomore there. I'm hoping to get a degree in veterinary medicine."
I couldn't help my laugh. "That'll come in handy," I said.
She grinned. "I hope so. Call it intuition, I don't know."
This girl was actually pretty funny, and interesting to talk to. Unfortuantely, a lot of pretty girls relied on their looks and not much else, but Darcy seemed to be oblivious to how pretty she was, and what she was doing to Collin. Lots of pretty girls were air heads and couldn't hold a conversation that didn't revolve around themselves to save their life, but Darcy wasn't like that at all. And Collin soaked in every word she said, staring at her like she was a goddess. Sometime during the conversation, Leah, Jacob, and Nessie joined us on the porch, and then the conversation switched to more serious stuff.
"So you and Collin met in the woods, I hear," Leah said conspicuously. I almost nudged Leah. My sister was not subtle by any means.
Darcy shuddered, but then caught herself. "Oh, I'm sorry, that was...really rude." She eyed Nessie and Sera.
Nessie smiled good-naturedly. "Don't worry about it, Darcy. Truth be told, my family and the Denali coven, our cousins in a way, we're the only covens that are vegetarian. If I was human, I would feel uncomfortable around other vampires too." Nessie and Jacob laughed.
"Honey, you're half-human," Jacob reminded her.
She shrugged. "Half-human, half-vampire, all weird."
Darcy played with her fingers. "That...whatever he was...he told me he hadn't smelled someone as delicious as me in all of his one hundered and fifty years." Darcy couldn't help another shudder.
Nessie gave her a sympathetic look. "You were a singer," she said sadly.
Darcy looked up. "A what?"
"Well, everyone smells different. It'd be only natural that to seperate vampires, they all have different tastes, just like humans do. And when someone the perfect scent to the vampire, they call it a blood singer. That must've been you," she said.
Darcy gave her a wide-eyed look. "Is it like that for you, too?"
Nessie chuckled. "Not really. I mean, some people smell better than others, but that's just it – they're people. I drink animal blood and eat human food. I barely notice the smell of humans." She shrugged again.
Darcy laughed. "That's a relief I guess."
"Just out of curiosity, what did he look like?" Leah asked.
"Beautiful," she whispered, and looked down.
We all waited for her to continue. "He had red eyes," she said finally, "Dark, wavy hair, and he was tall – skinny, but tall. And he was pale and looked like he was made from marble. And I think he had a Russian accent, but he had really good English. I didn't even think he existed when I first saw him. But...he did. And he tried to kill me." A tear slipped from her eye.
Collin wrapped his arms around her protectively, and kissed her cheek. She smiled at him.
"And then Collin showed up," she said, "Well, Collin as a wolf. I thought I was going insane. I pinched myself a couple of times, and realized that whatever it was, it was saving me. And then he transformed back to a human. I couldn't help myself; I jumped up and went for it." We all laughed. "I talked to him, and he reassured me that I wasn't going crazy. I gave him my number, but then when I got home, it dawned on me that I had just kissed a wolf and that I was almost killed by a demon thing. So I avoided him, naturally." She gave Collin a sheepish expression. "But he's persistent. And...we had a bond that was hard to ignore." Collin gave Darcy a look of pure, utter devotion, and she blushed and looked away.
"Did he mention his name at all to you?" Jacob asked.
Darcy's expression turned thoughtful. "Yes. I asked him who he was and why he was in the forest, and he said his name was Nikolai, and he thought I smelled more delicious than anything he had ever smelled. That's why he followed me."
"Why were you in the woods?" I asked.
"Jogging. I have to stay in shape. I work part-time at a modeling agency to help pay for school and stuff." She shrugged.
Nessie laughed. "What kind of modeling?"
She smiled coyly and winked at Collin. "Lingerie."
I bit my lip to keep from bursting into laughter as I saw Collin's eyes widen. "You never told me that," he choked out.
She laughed. "You never asked."
He spluttered and she shrugged. "It's just something to help pay for school. I could really care less about it."
"But...lingerie." He said it like it was holy.
Jacob patted his back. "It's okay, cousin, I – "
He cut off as a single scent assaulted our nose.
The scent that made the hair on my neck stand up.
Nessie and Sera both sniffed the air and their eyes widened in alarm.
Jake, Collin, and I were already trembling, not to mention with our imprints outside.
Imprints. Outside.
Oh god, Sera.
"Everyone inside!" Jacob commanded, and the five of us darted inside.
"Vampire," Collin hissed.
That's all it took to make a peaceful party turn into a war zone.
Nineteen wolves all stood with trembling limbs.
"Boys, we're going to phase," Leah announced, taking those who still phased outside, leaving Sam, Jared, and Paul inside.
"The imprints?" Kiowa asked, looking at Taylor fearfully.
"The Cullens will stay and protect them," Leah announced.
Carlisle nodded. "We will."
We all ran outside and phased.
The scent assaulted our nose. This one was fresh. Nasty, Embry thought.
Leah spoke through Jacob's Alpha connection to us. We're going to the left. I'm going with Harrison and Brady, since we're the fastest, and we're going to try to catch up with it. You guys – diverge and conquer.
We all did as she said. Leah's right. The three of us will take the middle, and we'll chase this motherfucker down, Jake said.
We burst through the woods, thick on this thing's trail. I could feel in my blood that we were gaining on it.
Leah's plan had worked out. We burst through the trees just as Brady and Harrison surrounded it, with Leah snapping mercilessly at his neck. The vamp kicked Leah's leg, and I heard a loud snap.
Leah whimpered, and then growled, limping but still attacking. The sight of my sister hurt made me angry, and I lunged.
My teeth found purchase in its collarbone, and I ended up ripping off its arm. He shrieked, his dark hair falling back as he howled in pain.
I tossed the arm into the trees, and the others all pounced.
The vamp really didn't have a fair fight. The second we all jumped in, he was done for. It ended quickly.
Jacob phased back and started a fire with the lighter in his pants' pocket, tied securely around his ankle. Ethan and Embry helped him collect the pieces.
I went to go help my sister.
Leah phased back, and she was clutching her leg. "Fucking leech," she cursed.
I took a look at her leg. Even with the advanced healing, her leg was badly bruised and healing in an awkward position.
"Looks like it'll have to reset, sis," I muttered, "Sorry."
Leah shook her head. "Not your fault, bro."
Jacob walked over and looked at Leah's leg. "You can't walk all the way back, that looks bad."
Leah chuckled. "I'll live." She tried to stand up, but she fell right back down, and bit her lip to keep from yelping.
"Yeah right," he said. He bent down to pick her up.
"Some Alpha I am," she muttered to herself, and the others phased back and ran to the house. I stayed behind with my sister, her second Quil, her third Collin, Jacob, and Embry.
"You're a great Alpha, Lee," I said, "You just got hurt."
"Yeah, I followed your orders," Jake said, chuckling.
She rolled her eyes. "Well, I got used to bossing you two assholes around when I was your Beta, but you know. Someone had to make sure you weren't being vampire chew toys."
Jacob looked thoughtful. "You know, I never thanked you for that. You probably saved our asses more times than I ever had the decency to admit. Not from the Cullens, because they wouldn't hurt us, but...just in general. Whenever anything happened. So...thank you, Leah."
Leah grinned. "Your welcome. And thanks for giving me the opportunity to boss you around. Came in handy, especially with fifteen unruly teenage werewolves."
Jacob smiled. "You're welcome."
We emerged back at the house, and I mentally cursed myself for not bringing clothes. I had shredded all my other ones when I phased. I almost made the others wait in the trees just in case impressionable children were outside, but I was happy to see that there were clothes set out for all of us just at the forest line.
I pulled on a pair of Emmett's old khakis, and the rest of us did the same. I saw that someone had left out some of Esme's old clothes for Leah too.
Leah slipped the flowery print dress over her head. Thankfully, she didn't need pants, because she couldn't even stand on her own. Jake picked up Leah after we were all dressed and we all walked into the house.
Carlisle greeted us at the door, and took Leah into his cool arms and ran upstairs, followed by Edward and Jacob. The rest of us were unnatrually silent, except for the sounds of imprints embracing their wolves.
I went upstairs to go check on my sister, and I was surprised to see Sera following me.
"I want to see if she's okay," she said.
I nodded, and together, we walked into Carlisle's office.
"Leah, I'm going to deliver the pain medication – "
"Oh fuck, doc. Just break the damn bone. I broke it once, not so bad," she said, crossing her arms.
I mentally shook my head. Leah was gutsy, I had to admit. I walked over and let Leah grip my hand, and Jake had her other one. Carlisle placed his hands on Leah's leg.
"On three, one, two –"
Carlisle snapped Leah's leg. She gripped onto Jacob and I's hand until I lost feeling. She let out a low whimper, and panted.
"I-I'm okay," she panted, looking up at the ceiling to try to distract herself with anything.
"I'm going to put a brace on. Don't take this off until this heals." He slid a brace on, and Leah winced.
"When will that be?" she asked.
Carlisle smiled. "Well, considering you're a wolf, I would say you'd be okay by tomorrow."
Leah nodded and swung her leg over. "This part of being a wolf, I can deal with."
Sera walked over. "Leah, are you okay?" She placed a hand on her good leg.
But as soon as she did that, she yanked her hand back.
Edward raised his eyebrow, but Leah didn't notice. "Oh honey, I'll be okay. Sorry we ruined your party-"
"Who's Hayden Gale?" Sera asked suddenly.
"Hayden? She's a girl on the rez. Why?" Leah asked, confused.
"Because she's going to phase," Sera said simply.
Leah looked like her eyes were going to pop out of her sockets. "No way. A girl. Another girl wolf." Leah's smile spread across her face.
Sera nodded slowly. "She's going to phase in two days. There'll be a vampire that comes around La Push. She'll just be passing through though, she won't harm anyone. But that vampire will trigger Hayden to phase," she said matter-of-factly.
"Thanks for the heads up, Sera," Leah said, smiling.
Sera's sapphire eyes twinkled. "Your welcome."
We all emerged downstairs, and everyone crowed around Leah, asking what happened. I ntoiced that Darcy sat in the back, staring at her feet as Leah described fighting this thing.
In an effort to get some normalcy back, Alice announced cake and presents. There was still an electric buzz that was in the air after every fight, but everyone tried to settle themselves for Sera's sake. The wolves all got her something, and like always, Sera was extremely grateful for everything. Her favorite gift however, was mine.
"Mon suel rêve," she read in perfect French. Her little eyes filled with tears.
"Hey, hey, none of that. You like it, don't you?" I asked, suddenly afraid that she hated it.
Sera smiled. "I love it. Can you put it on for me?" She turned around and lifted her long hair out of the way so that I could clasp the delicate chain around her neck.
She touched it with her forefingers. "Thank you, Seth."
"You're welcome, kiddo," I said, kissing her forehead.
The Cullens all gave her something too, except on a larger scale. All-in-all, despite having to go hunt a vampire (which to some of the pack brothers wasn't bad at all; it was a thrill to them), Sera's first birthday party was amazing.
And like always, so was she.
A/N: Hoped you liked Sera's first birthday as much as I did. (:
Give me your feedback! What did you think of me bringing up Hayden Gale (she was a short mention, but shee'll be important later)? Darcy's story? Paul's death threats to Emmett and Brady? GIVE DEM TO ME~
Okay, that was stupid. Just ignore my idiocy.I'm writing this at 2 in the morning.
Xoxo, Chels.