I'm back with a new chapter!
Any mistakes that you see are my own.
Disclaimer: I do not own The Twilight Saga. Stephenie Meyer owns The Twilight Saga and all its characters.
While I'm no virgin—Charlotte and Susannah being evidence of the fact—I forgot what sex felt like. Jake and I spent all night making love and although he was slow and cautious—because he was afraid of hurting me—the sex was really good. But Jake was. A virgin, I mean. Considering the fact that he's extremely good-looking, I figured he's had a few or more girlfriends or have been in a few or more sexual relationships. But no, he was a straight-up, twenty-six-year-old virgin and I was his first.
I snuggle closer against Jake's bare chest, smiling contently as he tightens his arms around me, neither of us wanting to open our eyes just yet. Even when we hear giggling coming from two mischievous little toddlers, we still don't open our eyes. Instead I smile against Jake's chest.
"Babe, there are gremlins in our room."
Catching onto my act, he says, "I'm sure they'll go away."
We hear more giggling and I open one eye. Sure enough, Charlie and Susie—that's what I'll be calling them now—are standing by our bedside, awake and grinning down at us.
Faking a yawn, I mumble, "They're still here."
Jake pretends to groan. "You take care of them."
"No, you," I argue.
He sighs. "Okay, fine."
Before the twins can even blink, Jake detangles himself from me and reaches out to grab them, pulling them onto our bed and flipping them over so they're lying on their backs, tickling both their tummies. Thankfully, he has a pair of boxers on while I'm fully clothed, having changed into a pair of pajamas after the night we had. I decide to join in on the fun, tickling Susie's tummy while I pepper her face with morning kisses. Jake does the same with Charlie.
"Daddy, stop!" Charlie laughs and Jake and I stop "attacking" the twins but not because Charlie said so. I turn to look at Jake, who looks like someone just poured a bucket of cold water on him.
"Daddy?" Charlie asks. "Are you okay, Daddy?"
"Jake?" I reach out to touch his shoulder. "You okay?"
Jake snaps out of it before turning to grin at me. "I'm fine. I just, uh, blacked out for a moment."
We stop playing and get out of bed. Thankfully, it's Saturday, meaning Mickey Mouse-shaped pancakes for breakfast. I also make Minnie Mouse by making the bow out of strawberries and a big dollop of whipped cream in between. The whole time I was making weekend pancakes, I didn't think of this idea. The girls don't just love Mickey, but Minnie as well. In fact, that's what they want the theme of their fifth birthday party to be. Minnie and Mickey Mouse.
Jake's phone beeps and he grabs it, turning it on. "Rachel wants to know if we can all hang out with her and Rebecca. Maybe go to the aquarium?"
The twins perk up when Jake mentions the aquarium. "Can we, Mommy? Can we? Can we?" they ask, giving me matching puppy dog looks.
"Of course we can," I smile at them and they cheer, excitedly. I laugh before turning my attention to Jake. "Tell your sisters we'd love to hang out with them. I'll text Emily and Leah and ask if they'd like to join us."
Jake types something on his phone while I do the same on mine. A few seconds later, both our phones beep at the same time.
"Rachel says she can pick us up in an hour. She drives a Range Rover and it can fit up to five or so passengers," Jake tells me.
"That's fine," I say. "The twins just need their car seats."
"They're in your car," he says.
"No, they're in yours," I argue. When he raises an eyebrow, I go on, "Remember? My car broke down so you lent me yours until I could get it fixed. I took the car seats out before dropping it off at the mechanic and transferred them to the Prius."
"Oh, yeah," Jake lets out a small laugh.
"Emily and Leah says they'd be happy to join us, but Emily wants to know if Sam could come," I read the text message Emily sent me.
Jake makes a disgusted face, followed by a noise with his mouth.
"What?"
He hesitates before answering, "Believe me, I'm happy for your sister and I'm happy for Sam. But them being in a relationship makes me uncomfortable."
"How?" Now it's my turn to raise an eyebrow.
Jake starts talking really fast. "Well, Sam's my boss, for starters. I make one mistake and not only does he get mad, but he reports said mistake to Emily and I know girls like to gossip so she'll tell you about my mistake and then I'll either have to face your pity look or your wrath. And vice versa."
"What do you mean, 'vice versa?'" I question.
"If Sam finds out I hurt you, god knows what he'll do," Jake says.
"I'm sure Sam won't do anything rash," I assure him. "He'll probably just make you work overtime as punishment, which is not that bad when you think about it because it means more money."
"I do hope you're right," Jake gives me a weak smile.
After breakfast, I clean up in the kitchen while Jake gets the girls ready to go to the Seattle Aquarium. Rachel and Rebecca are okay with Sam coming along and I told them not to worry about trying to make space in Rachel's car because he and Emily will meet us at the aquarium and be the ones to get us our tickets with Sam paying for them, shutting down our offers to pay him back.
"Can we talk about what happened earlier?" Jake's voice comes out of nowhere, making me jump and drop the dish I was washing back into the sink filled with water. We do have a dishwasher, but we only use it if there's a lot of dirty dishes and there wasn't during breakfast.
"Jake, you scared me," I tell him, turning around and placing a hand over my heart.
"Sorry," he smiles sheepishly at me.
"Are Charlie and Susie ready?" I ask.
He nods. "Yes and right now, they're in Charlie's room, playing on their iPads."
"Okay," I wipe my hands on my pants. "Let's go sit at the dining table."
"That's okay," Jake assures me. "This will only take a moment."
"Okay, shoot."
"Did you catch what Charlie said?" he asks.
"Of course," I tell him. "She didn't exactly whisper it." I take a few steps forward until we're almost touching and reach to take both his hands in mine. "How do you feel about it?"
Jake looks lost for a moment before he frowns. "I don't know. I mean, I love Charlie and Susie and love that they think of me as their dad. But you and I haven't been dating for that long. I guess it feels weird to actually hear them say it."
"But you're not uncomfortable?" I ask.
Jake gazes down at me, grinning. "No, I'm not. I just need to get used to it is all. But you know what this means, right?" He wiggles his eyebrows.
I know exactly what this means. "We are not getting married," I tell him, blankly.
Jake's shoulders slump as he pouts. "I tried."
I can't help but giggle as I lean in to kiss him on the cheek. "I still love you," I whisper in his ear.
His face brightens, "I love you, too." He then gives me a quick peck on the lips.
We once again hear giggling and pull away to find our girls standing in the hallway, smiling up at us. "Daddy kissed Mommy on the lips!" Charlie giggles and her sister joins in.
"Would you two like one as well?" Jake grins mischievously as he stalks towards the twins, like a predator stalking its prey.
"NOOO!" they scream before turning on their heels and making a run for it, Jake running after them. "NO, DADDY, STOP!" I hear Susie scream as Jake makes roaring noises. "MOMMY, DADDY'S ATTACKING US!"
I just smile to myself as I take a clean, damp cloth and wipe down the kitchen counters. The twins continue to call for help as Jake pretends he's a wild animal and they're his food. By the time I'm done and rinsing out the cloth in the sink, the screams stop and the house is quiet. A few minutes later, Jake comes back into the kitchen.
"Okay, I managed to plant some on them," he tells me before coming up from behind me and wrapping his arms around my waist. "Now it's your turn." I close my eyes and lean back against him as he places light kisses along the side of my face before moving down to my neck.
"Jake?" I moan, softly.
"Hmm?"
"You and I still need to get ready," I tell him.
He sighs and takes a step back. I wring the cloth as best as I could and place it on the divider between the two sinks. I then follow Jake to our bedroom, stopping for a brief moment to check on the twins. Seeing that they've gone back to playing on their iPads, I go into my and Jake's bedroom and we get ready to go to the aquarium with his sisters and mine.
Charlie and Susie were extremely excited to be reunited with their BFFs after only about fifteen hours or so of being apart. I was relieved that Rachel and Rebecca could understand what the twins are saying as they babbled on about the aquatic animals and the facts that they know, thanks to having an aunt who's a teacher. They forgot all about us as we followed them through every exhibit, Charlie holding Rebecca's hand and Susie holding Rachel's. We didn't mind, though. The twins are always with either Emily, Leah or even Seth—but mostly Emily—so it was nice to see them with other family. I smiled to myself when I thought about Jake and his sisters as being part of the family. We've only been dating for a month, but even before then, I already thought of Jake—as well as Rachel and Rebecca—as being part of the family. Because those who have joined the police force, even after losing their beloved police chief, are immediately part of the family.
Charlie and Susie continue to babble on about their day as we eat lunch at Ateara's. Rachel told me that she's been to the restaurant before and, along with Rebecca, was shocked and surprised when I told her that my family and I knew the owner, as well as his mom. Once again, the place is empty and Quil is the only one working.
"Yeah, we're a bit low on staff right now," he explains when he approaches our table to take our orders and I bring it up with him. "Most of our waiters and waitresses are in school so they only work part-time. We're looking to hire some people full-time if you're interested, Bella. Actually, my mom still wants to hire you, but I told her you already have a job."
"Actually, I'm thinking about quitting," I reveal. All the adults, including Quil, gasp at this. I just shrug my shoulders. "It's time I move on to something else. I mean, I wasn't planning on working at the diner forever."
"But you can make your own hours," Leah tells me. "And I'm working there, too."
"Yeah, but only three days a week," I remind her. "And it's only one of those days that we're working the same shift."
"Didn't Quil just say that he's looking to hire more people?" Rachel asks. Leah and I both nod at this. "Then there you go." We just stare at her, blankly. She sighs, "Leah, if you too don't want to work at the diner anymore, then I'm sure Quil would be more than happy to hire you to work here with Bella."
"She's right," Quil agrees, grinning at Leah. "And because I know you're in school and Bella has children to take care of, we can work out a schedule that's flexible for both of you. Like what you do at the diner."
"Well, I'll think about it," I say before turning to face my sister. "Leah?"
She just nods. "I'll think about it too. Of course, we'd have to give one month notice of resignation to our boss if we do decide to leave, but it can be done."
"Great," Quil says before taking out his notepad and pen to take our orders. After he writes down Sam's order, he turns his attention back to Leah, "Actually Leah, now that you're here, do you want to maybe go on a date with me? A romantic date, that is."
Everyone at the table, except for Charlie and Susie—who have stopped babbling about what a fun day they've had at the aquarium and are now coloring on their paper kids' menus—turn to look at Leah, waiting for her answer. She just stares at Quil like he's grown two heads.
"Uh…" she stutters.
"Say yes, Lee," Emily encourages.
Leah takes a deep breath before letting it out. "I would love to go on a romantic date with you, Quil," she tells Quil, whose grin grows wider.
"Great," he says. "This is the part where I give you my number so you can call me, but you already have it and I have yours. So I'll call you and we can schedule for that date." He winks at her.
"Okay," is all Leah says as she plays with her hair. Quil just gives her another grin before heading into the kitchen.
It's silent around the table for a moment before Rachel speaks, "I take it you like him." This statement is directed at Leah, who just smiles sheepishly.
"I guess," she says. "We've been friends for years, but I didn't think I'd have romantic feelings for Quil until we kissed six months ago."
Both Emily and my jaws drop to the floor. "What?" we both say at the same time.
"You didn't know that?" Rachel asks us, raising an eyebrow, reminding me of her brother.
Emily and I both shake our heads, shocked looks plastered on our faces.
"Quil came over to my apartment to drop off food for me because I was in the middle of studying for a test and hadn't eaten since earlier that afternoon," Leah explains. "How he knew that, I had no idea. Anyway, I figured I'd take a break and eat dinner. Quil stayed for a bit and joined me, even though there was only enough for one. I dropped my plastic fork and went to pick it up at the same time he did. We bumped heads and, well, you know what happened next."
"Why didn't you tell us?" Emily asks.
Leah just shrugs. "We made a promise to each other to forget about what happened and move on, but I couldn't do that. I thought maybe it was because Quil didn't feel the same way I felt about him."
"He obviously does now since he just asked you out right in front of us," I tell her. "And don't think Emily and I didn't notice the lovey-dovey looks you've been exchanging every time you see each other. Maybe he did like you more than a friend. He just thought the same thing."
"You're probably right," Leah gives me a small smile.
Quil comes back with our food, but doesn't say anything except what each of us ordered as he serves it to us. Instead, he just grins and practically skips back into the kitchen.
"He seems really happy," Rebecca says.
"Of course he is," Rachel says. "He finally asked his crush out on a date." She winks at Leah.
We all laugh at that before digging into our food.
