"Morning."
I turned away from the window at the croak behind me, a smile breaking out on my face as I took in Lily's dishevelled hair and clothes. She had fallen asleep against my chest again and I had lifted her to bed and lay beside her, both of us fully dressed. I had woke an hour earlier, determined to make her breakfast. Last night had been amazing and now that I knew she didn't hate me and she wasn't afraid of me I was determined to get our life together started as quickly as possible. I had been so intent on trying to fry the eggs that I hadn't noticed her approaching. She had changed into a pair of old, purple sweat shorts and a loose black shirt and her hair was pulled away from her face by a hair band.
"You sound awful." I murmured as she yawned and leant back against the kitchen wall.
"I feel worse than I sound." She coughed softly. "You must be psychic."
"I don't need to be psychic to know that if you go out with wet hair in Washington you're going to catch a cold." I chuckled. "Why don't you go pour yourself a hot bath and I'll make you a cup of coffee. That much I can handle."
She tried to chuckle but it came out as a painful, hacking cough so she gave up and shrugged. "I don't want a bath. I have to go and pick Faye and Mia up. I promised we would go shopping for clothes for them going back to school today."
"No, you're going to have a hot shower or a hot bath and then you are going to crawl back into bed and sleep for the rest of the day. I will go pick the girls up and take them shopping and to a movie."
She looked up in alarm and shook her head. "No way, Jacob. The last time you took the girls shopping… well, you remember what happened."
I pouted at her and shook my head, catching her off guard as I swept her, bridal style, into my arms and carried her towards the stairs.
"That was a month ago. I've had much more practise now with them. I know not to fall for the looks." I sat her down in front of the bedroom and cupped her face in my hands, biting back a small smile at her miserable face. "Go have a bath. Relax. Light some of those smelly candles. Read a book. Do not worry about anything. I'll bring dinner back with me, okay?"
She nodded and sighed, pursing her lips slightly. I leant down and kissed her softly, feeling myself relaxing into her as her soft hands came up to caress the back of my neck. I untangled her and kissed her softly on the forehead, keeping a hold of her for a few minutes before letting go.
"I'll see you later." I promised.
After making her coffee and leaving it in her room, I paused outside the bathroom to listen to her singing, or croaking rather, an old punk song that Abby sang all the time. I had to remember to thank Abby later for whatever she said to make Lily ask for me. The relief I felt last night when I realised she didn't hate me had been staggering. I had gone straight to Quil's after leaving Lily's and had broke down in front of him and Embry. They tried their best to be supportive but as neither Claire or Alicia had even thought of hating them when they were told the truth, I didn't get much comfort.
It didn't take long to walk to Sam's but by the time I reached there I realised I had very little money to bring Mia and Faye shopping. I didn't want to go back and disturb Lily either.
"Hey Jake." Emily looked tired as she opened the door to me. I could hear the loud laughter of children from somewhere in the house, and I threw Emily a sympathetic look.
"Have a nice night, Em?"
She threw me a dirty look as I settled myself at the kitchen table, my stomach rumbling loudly as the smell of frying bacon and scrambled eggs hit my nostrils.
"I'm trying to convince Sam to bring all the kids to the beach today to get them out of my hair. I swear, Jake, if I hear one more girly scream over how hot that guy from the Disney Channel is I am banning the television." She sighed. I chuckled again.
"Maybe we could round up the pack and bring them all to the beach." I mused. "Lily is dying with the cold so she's under strict instructions to stay in bed and relax all day."
Emily turned suddenly and smiled at me knowingly. "See, didn't I tell you it would all work out in the end?"
I grinned and nodded again. "Yes. As always, you were right."
"I'm glad someone thinks so." She dramatically sighed. "Anyway, why don't you see if you can convince Sam to go with you to the beach? I'll have breakfast ready in about five minutes."
I stood and stretched, dropping a spontaneous kiss on Emily's head as I passed her. I almost walked into a growling Sam. He glared at me so fiercely that I took a step back.
"Easy, Sam." Emily ordered, rolling her eyes. He took a step back from me but his gaze was no less fierce.
"It was just to say thank you Sam, get a grip." I told him. He narrowed his eyes at me but said nothing, crossing the room to wrap his arms around Emily protectively. She shook her head but the smile on her face gave away how much she enjoyed his attention. I rolled my eyes and returned to my seat at the table, feeling very much like a third wheel.
"So, Sam, Jacob was just thinking of rounding up the troops and bringing the kids to the beach. How many should I pack that picnic basket for?" Emily spoke sweetly but I smirked at the underlying steel in the tone. Sam chuckled, recognising the command, and shrugged.
"Why don't you pack the three big baskets? That should be more than enough." He suggested. She nodded and shooed him away as she doled the bacon and eggs onto two plates and set them on the table, stepping back and surveying Sam and I as we attacked the food like starved men.
"So how's Lily?" Sam asked me calmly as he ate.
"She's dying with the cold because she ran out of the house yesterday with wet hair and sat on the beach for twenty minutes with Abby." I told him. "I made her spend the day in bed and told her I'd bring the girls shopping but since I don't actually have enough money to bring those two shopping for even an hour, I need another plan."
"Oh that's right, the last time you brought them shopping you almost had to re-mortgage your dad's house." Emily chuckled. I shook my head ruefully.
"Yeah, so Lily reminded me this morning." I chuckled, finishing the last of my bacon. "Should I phone Paul and Jared and tell them to meet us down there too?"
Emily shook her head. "I'll do it now. Then I'll get the girls ready, Mia and Faye can borrow a suit each of Haley."
She left the room and Sam and I looked at each other carefully. I was slightly annoyed that he had gone over to Lily's last night although the annoyance had more to do with the fact that the two of them got along so well. She was always laughing in Sam's presence and I was slightly jealous of that. Most people were afraid of Sam but Lily took to liking him quickly and I hated that. I wanted to be the one she laughed with. It was completely irrational but part of me was glad that Sam got jealous over me kissing Emily on the head; part of me thought it was him getting a piece of his own medicine.
"You're being ridiculous." He told me as if he could read my thoughts. I sighed and nodded.
"I know that but what can I do? I can't help being jealous. None of you mentioned this insane possessiveness that comes with imprinting. I want to rip the head off any man that talks to her… even old man Hull at the grocery store."
Sam chuckled and shrugged. "You get used to it and while the urge never really disappears, you learn to ignore it and it will only ever pop up if someone gets too close to her… like you did with Emily."
I snorted. "That really was only a thank you for the food though."
"I know but my brain couldn't process that. All I wanted to do was rip you from limb to limb."
"Yeah, you would try old man." I laughed as he glared at me. The sound of footsteps and laughter on the stairs made the two of exchange helpless glances. Suddenly we were surrounded by loud, talking and giggling little girls in various shades of pink and purple and yellow. Faye and Amelia wrapped their arms around me, one on each side and I reached down and pulled them both easily up beside me.
"Did you two have a nice time in Emily's?" They nodded with big smiles. "What did you do?"
"We played games…"
"And we played sing star and I won!"
"And we had chocolate and marshmallows…"
"And hot chocolate with marshmallows…"
My head was reeling as they listed off every activity they had done since they were dropped off at four thirty yesterday afternoon. I could hear Emily chuckling at me from across the room.
"Alright," Sam called loudly. Amazingly, everyone of them stopped talking and turned as one to face him. "We're going to bring you to the beach so everyone go and get ready and we'll head down to meet Jared and Paul, okay? We're leaving in ten minutes."
In a flurry of movement and noise they were gone again and I turned, open mouthed, to Sam.
"How did you do that?" I asked reverently. He laughed loudly and shrugged.
"Years of practise."
"Jared and Paul are going to meet you down there." Emily told us as she stood at the counted, making sandwiches and placing them in a large wicker basket. "I'm going to put in a couple of bottles of water in the basket Sam, make sure they all drink it throughout the day. I don't want any of them becoming dehydrated. They won't be used to this heat."
Today was another freakily warm day in La Push and it was probably a good day to bring them to the beach. It would most likely be one of the last warm days before they all went back to school.
"Oh and I'm throwing in two chocolate bars that they have to split between them. I don't want anyone getting sick because of two much candy." She continued. "And make sure you keep an eye on them. If any of them wander into the water because you boys aren't paying attention… well, I wouldn't bother coming home. Any of you. Now, I'm going to call Abby and Kim and see if they want to go shopping since we've gotten the day off. Are you sure Lily won't feel up to it? I'd hate to think she thinks she's being left out."
"Honestly, Em, she's in bed. Or she better be." I assured her. She nodded and sighed again, running a hand through her hair.
"I'm going to have a shower then. I'll see you boys later." She leaned down and kissed Sam softly, her lips lingering slightly on his. I looked away and coughed uncomfortably. No matter how many times I saw them kiss like that, I have never gotten used to it.
Five minutes later we had gotten the girls ready and started the short trek to the beach, Haley and Mia leading the way, singing loudly as they walked together, hand in hand.
"What have we agreed to?" Sam groaned as we followed. I bit my lip to stop my laughter but I couldn't contain it for long.
