A/N: So this chapter is beyond late (understatement) and that's for a couple of reasons the first one being that when I started this chapter over a year ago I was about halfway through when my computer decided to update itself while I was in the middle of writing and I lost everything except for the first paragraph and autosave completely failed and that left me way too frustrated to continue because I just got too mad thinking about it. While it did give me a chance to change some of the things I wasn't 100% happy with I also lost some good work that I wasn't quite able to recreate. The second one being life and not in the 'I'm too busy way', but the 'I'm not that motivated to do anything' kind of way which isn't that great of a reason but happens. Every time I sat down to write I'd either get stuck on a minor detail or just write around in circles, but here it is finally. Sorry for this long author's note. :\

The sounds of Daniels screams could be heard throughout the Swan residence and it seemed like there was nothing Leah could do to calm them. She'd fed him, changed him, burped him, put him down for a nap (despite him having just woken up from one) and anything else she could think of, but he still kept crying which was really out of character for him. Sure he cried when he needed something or was just plain unhappy, but he was always easy to calm down. The only other time he'd been this fussy was when he was sick with pneumonia which had her worried he was sick again, but his temperature was fine, he wasn't coughing and despite his refusal earlier he was eating fine. There was nothing to indicate that something was wrong besides his constant crying.

Leah was sitting on the couch with Daniel in on one side resting on the arm of the couch and on the other side a baby book lying flat on the seat with Leah furiously flipping through it trying to find the answer. She might have found the answer earlier, but Daniel refused to let go of her when she tried to put him down in his playpen and with him screaming right next to her ear she was finding it very hard to concentrate on the words in the book. For all she knew she'd found it already, but was too distracted to comprehend it. She wished she could just call her mother and she'd have the answer for sure, but they currently weren't speaking at the moment and Leah didn't want to give up her stance without having at least done anything in her power to solve the problem on her own. Plus, Leah realized, she would have been dealing with this completely alone anyways if staying in Oregon had panned out.

Leah took a break from the book and focused on soothing Daniel It calmed his screams to a more acceptable decibel but he was still unhappy nonetheless. He seemed like he was in some type of pain, but Leah couldn't pinpoint where; he had none of the usual symptoms of being sick. Holding him close to her had calmed his cries to pitiful sobs. She rubbed his back soothingly and kissed his forehead and then got back to the book. The moment her attention shifted away from him he let out an outraged cry making her cringe from the suddenness of it.

"I know sweetie, but let's try not to damage mommy's hearing alright?" Her voice wasn't as soothing as it should be, but that was the most she could control it. She went back to the book more determined than ever. She was going to get to the bottom of this and he was going to quiet down everybody was going to be alright. Or so she told herself.

Daniels cries seemed to get even more indignant making it harder than before to concentrate on anything before. She was so distracted that she didn't even hear Bella walk into the living room.

"Hey!" The sound of Bella's voice startled Leah so much that she nearly hit her, but when she realized who it was she calmed down. She was wearing tattered sweats a pencil in her messy hair and an annoyed look on her face that Leah could relate to. If Daniel wasn't her son and she didn't love him so much she would have bailed an hour ago and let someone else deal with him, but she was a mother and mothers (at least good ones) don't do that.

Leah turned to face Bella and let out a frustrated sigh. "What do you want?"

Bella let out a frustrated sigh herself. "I don't know world peace, a cure for cancer and some peace and QUIET." She never realized how hard it was to ignore a baby crying. She would have turned music on full blast, but that would have been counteractive. She wanted quiet and the music would not only have increased his cries but also added more noise to the house. She had finals to study for and despite her plans to not go to college, she wanted to at least graduate in this life before she started her new one. She wanted to see her parents proud of her one last time before all ties were cut from them. "Could you please find a way to quiet him down so I can study?"

Leah was taken so aback by Bella's assertiveness that she almost forgot to get angry. But once the shock wore off the anger seeped into her in waves; she had to control her breathing in fear her wolf would come out. "Who the hell are to ask my son to shut up? And more so, what the hell makes you think I haven't been trying to do that for the last two hours?"

Bella looked at Leah with a blank face as though she had just realized what she'd done. She didn't mean to come off so rude and ignorant; it was just that she was so frustrated that she'd had enough. Normally she would have gone to Edwards, but she knew no real studying would have gotten done with him around. "I'm sorry; it's just a little difficult to concentrate when all you can hear is a screaming baby even with headphones on and despite popular belief, I do want to graduate high school."

"Well, you make a hell of a case," Leah says snidely and turns back to the book. Still getting nowhere in her effort to focus on the words Leah turns desperate. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath and turn to Bella who is still standing next to her probingly. "Alright, if you really want Daniel to stop crying you're going to have to help me." She feels the bile rise in her stomach at the thought of not only asking for help but asking for Bella's help.

Bella looks at her timidly, "Oh-kay, how can I help?" She lets her words out slowly.

"You can hold him and take him to the other room while I search through this book and figure out what's wrong with him because apparently, maternal instinct is failing me right now." Her voice cracks a little.

"Okay," Bella says wide eyed as she takes the baby from Leah apprehensively. She walks to the kitchen bouncing him up and down muttering, "It's all going to be okay." That didn't give Leah much hope, but she needed a moment to herself.

When she's alone she takes several deep breaths to hold back tears. She feels utterly useless, her son was crying and a book was the only hope she had to calm him down. She hears Daniel's screams pick up in the kitchen and Bella's plea that everything's going to be alright. She takes that as her cue to keep searching. She starts with the table of contents which had titles so infuriatingly vague that she decided to search aimlessly until she had a page that could help her. If all else failed, she'd just go to the emergency room, but she didn't want to deal with the looks from nurses and doctors and plus worked there.

She had finally stumbled on to a section called what your baby's cries mean when she heard a knock at the front door. She let out a growl of frustration.

"Bella, can you get that?" Leah yells.

"I'm kinda busy," Bella yells back uncertainly and then Daniel's screams start to sound out right indignant. There's another knock.

Leah puts the book face down and gets up ready to yell at the person on the other side of that door. When she opens it the person on the other side was the last person she expected. "What are you doing here?"

Emily had just gotten home from the store. She happily puts away all the groceries that'll surely be devoured in the next 48 hours and walks upstairs with one small bag and the egg timer in tow.

After overhearing Sam and Leah two weeks ago her entire world had been shook and for the first time since the imprint, she was actually worried that Sam might one day be able to leave her. The amount of pain he was in over not being able to see Daniel rivaled the pain he felt when he was away from her. It wasn't as strong, but it could get there. He could get tired of the pain and give into whatever demands Leah would have for him and surely one of those demands would involve him leaving her.

Had this been a year ago when this whole imprint started that wouldn't have been such a terrifying prospect, but now—now she was nothing without him. She gave up her job, her house, her dignity, her life, all to be with Sam. It seemed like the best move, the only move and since he was her soulmate for life she had seen little risks in doing so, but now she needed to secure her future and she knew exactly how to do it.

She walks into the bathroom and takes her items out: three pregnancy tests—extra just to be sure. Her period was a day late—not much to be concerned about, but she was hopeful. She only uses one first as to not be wasteful—she'll need the others at some point again if this one's negative. She follows the directions to the T and sets the timer and waits. Before the timer can go off she hears Sam come home.

"Em, you home," he shouts from the stairs.

She starts scrambling to hide the boxes and its contents—she hadn't discussed a baby with him yet, she hoped to already be pregnant for that conversation so he couldn't say no. She can hear him come up the steps, but then he abruptly stops—she hears another voice, Jacob's and then his steps get farther and farther away from her. She lets out a sigh of relief and starts putting things away in a more organized fashion and hides the under the sink and sets the timer to zero hoping Jacob keeps him distracted enough not to notice the noise—she'll look at the results later. She starts to descend the stairs when she notices that Jake and Sam seem to be in a serious conversation. She motions to go back up but decides to stay where she is and listen in.

Bella had never held a baby before, it's something that never came up. Neither of her parents had siblings, so she didn't have cousins younger or older than her to be around and her mother taught Kindergarten where the children were well past their infantile stages. To say she was nervous holding Daniel was an understatement, but she didn't have a choice—Leah was scary enough in a neutral mood let alone frustrated.

She stood in the kitchen bouncing him up and down—she saw that on television all the time—and it seemed to do nothing, but anger him more. He was apparently not in a mood to move around so she sat in one of the dining room chairs and just held him close while rubbing his back gently. She figured babies were like people and found comfort in the same things—plus her mother used to do that for her when she was a toddler and was in one of her particularly grumpy moods. It helped a little bit but he was still crying.

She pulls Daniel away from her a bit and looks down at his red tearful face. She never actually seen him this close—his cheeks were chubby and though his face was scrunched up she couldn't help but see how adorable he was. "Awe it's alright," she rubs his back a little more firmly and instinctively presses a kiss to his chubby little cheek. His crying stops and he looks at her with wide eyes mouth gaping open. She feels as though he can see straight through to her soul by the way he looks at her as though he knows everything about her. She knows it's ridiculous, but something about the expression on his face makes her think he's more perceptive than his age suggests. His tiny mouth forms a smile and she can't help, but smile back, but then his face starts to scrunch up turning his smile into a grimace and then his screams fill the house once again.

She tries rubbing his back and kissing his cheek again, but it seemed that was a one time deal. She really hopes Leah gets back soon—she answered the door ten minutes ago and hasn't come back since. He lets out a particularly indignant cry and it startles Bella. "Ahh, your mommy will be back very soon," she repeats that like a mantra, hoping that it'll get her through. She's never held a baby before, but right now she doesn't think she'll want after and if everything goes according to plan she'll never have to. That last thought sits with her a little too uncomfortable.

"What are you doing here?" Leah says that more hostile than she means to.

The guest at the door was slightly taken aback by her tone but stood her ground. "Is that any way to greet the grandmother of your child?"

Leah felt guilt seep its way into her system. "No, sorry Allison," she steps outside and closes the door behind her. "How did you find me?"

"People talk Leah—how wouldn't I know where you were?" She gazes off into the forest for a moment before gathering her thoughts enough to speak. "You know my son was never quite the same when he came back. He was always on edge, the slightest thing set him off into an angry fit—I was afraid he was starting to turn into his father, but then he left you for your cousin and I thought things were getting better. I may not have approved of it, but he was happier, less on edge and the way he seemed to look after her after her accident calmed me from every thought of him being like Joshua, but he still wasn't my son. I don't know what that girl did to him, but he seemed even less like he was before—things just didn't seem to matter to him like before, college, you, me. I saw my son less and less the more she integrated herself into his life and the way he was after you left—" Allison's eyes started to water. "It was like we'd never existed to him before and I couldn't help but think no wonder you left, no wonder you did to your parents what he did to me because I could barely stay to watch it myself." She looked at Leah poignantly as though she could see every bit of pain she'd been through.

Leah looks away from her uncomfortably. "Yeah well that's all good and nice, but is there a reason that you're telling me all this."

"I was getting to it. You've changed too having to watch the man you love change right before your eyes, see him with another woman, bear his child and not once did you ever think to come to someone who might understand what you're going through. I could have helped Leah, I've been exactly right where you were—he may be my son, but that doesn't mean I condone everything he's done. And then to come back with my grandson no less and not once did you think to come by and let me meet him." Her tone was severe and had Leah shrinking back. "I waited for you to come by giving you the time you needed, but then you never did. Instead moved out here with people you barely know acting as though I never existed either."

For the first time since learning she missed her father's funeral, she felt truly guilty for her actions. She thought all the people she'd hurt to get away from Sam were well worth it because they were guilty too, but Allison, she'd done nothing to earn her resentment. Never once did she stick up for Emily—in fact she was one of the main people in La Push that looked down on her—never once did she stay on Sam's side and never once did she treat Leah like she was child crying over losing her new toy, but never once did she talk to her. Leah thought that because of the break-up she had lost rights to his mother too, so it didn't really occur to her to talk to Allison about any of it. In fact in her effort to forget all things Sam, Allison didn't exist to her anymore, so why would she go to her—why would she let Daniel meet her if she'd already decided that Daniel didn't have a father.

"Alright, so I've been a bad person, but that still doesn't explain why you're here and now. I've been back for three months, here for one. You had other opportunities before I left to come and see me. Why specifically today did you decide to come see me?"

"I thought today would be a good day to especially stop by."

Leah looks at her perplexed by what she means by "especially" but she lets her in the door anyway.

They walk in to find Bella rocking the baby back and forth mumbling to herself. Alison immediate walks over to her and takes him out of her arms. Bella looks at the older woman relieved that someone took over.

"Awe is this, my grandson," she coos as she bounces him up and down. "Why are we so fussy today?" She stares over at Leah expecting an answer.

"I don't know he's been like this all day. I've tried everything, but he still keeps crying." There's a hint of desperation in her voice.

"What is he about six months?" Leah nod in response.

"Ahh, he might be teething, have you checked his gums?"

Leah feels a little embarrassed she didn't think of that. In fact, it was the most obvious answer. She shakes her head.

"Bella would you mind getting a clean wash cloth and an ice cube.

She jumps up from the table to retrieve the items Allison asked for. When she comes back she almost trips. She smiles wryly at her, "thank you, dear." She wraps the ice in the wash cloth and gently puts it in his mouth. He's indignant at first, wary of this new foreign object, but when the cold hit his gums and relief starts his cries quiet down to whimpers.

Leah watches in awe as her son's grandmother expertly calms the baby down. She feels a little inadequate, and worse about not contacting her she would have been there, she would have helped and now she realizes that she was never as alone as she thought.

Charlie hears a soft knock on his office door and shouts, "Come in!" Sue creeps into his office timidly. Normally she's not this shy, let alone around Charlie, but today was a special day and he was the only person who could give her the information she needed.

He's just finishing up some paperwork sent from Seattle when he looks up to see who walked into his office. His features immediately soften when he sees who it is. "Hey, Sue," he gestures to one of the chairs in front of his desk for her to sit in. She complies and sets her stuff down next to her. "What brings you here?"

"I think you know why I'm here Charlie."

"I do, but I need to hear the word from you."

She clears her throat. "Alright, how's Leah?"

He pauses for a moment thinking about what to tell her. Should he leave things out or tell her everything. He settles with the truth. If it were Bella he'd want someone to do the same. "She's fine for the most part or at least what I can tell. I can tell she's not completely comfortable—always walking on eggshells no matter how much I try to reassure her I'm not going to kick her out. She misses you."

That piqued her interest. "She said that?"

"Not in so many words, but I can tell it from her face. She misses home which is probably why she's having such a hard time settling—she's still living out of her suitcase like she's ready to leave at any time."

Sue nods her head in thought. A heavy feeling washes over her. "Do you think she'll ever forgive me?"

Charlie leans back uncomfortable with the emotional turn this conversation went, but he answers anyway. "She needs time," he pauses before continuing. "But you're her mother and nothing is going to change that, so just give it time."

Small smile forms on her face "Thank you, Charlie." She motions to get up, "Can you do me a favor?"

"Anything."

"Give this to Leah." She hands him a bag with tissue paper coming out of the top. "It's her birthday and I don't another one to go by without me getting her something."

"Of course, Sue. I'll make sure she knows who it's from."

"You don't need to do that, in fact, don't, I think she'll be less receptive if she learns it's from me."

Sam had problems of his own, big problems, such big problems that he didn't have the time or energy to deal with anyone else's problems, but that sad look on Jacob's face stopped him from sending him away. Granted he felt the kid needed to get over it, but if the past has taught him anything it's that people move on at their own pace and telling them to get over it isn't going to help. So he let the kid talk, whine about Bella and how she was throwing her life away, literally and how he's tried everything to get her to see that. That's where he stops him.

"It's not up to you to get her to see value in her life. In fact, it's not up to anyone that's something she needs to realize completely on her own."

"I understand that, but how can she do that when she has that leech manipulating her? How can I get her to think for herself? She keeps clinging to him like he didn't hurt her and she won't call him out on any of it because she's too afraid to lose him again." He could hear the desperation and frustration in his voice. He could understand the feeling—it was always hard to try to save someone when they won't do anything save themselves.

He sighs as he thinks about the best way to phrase this. "She needs to realize that she's not the same person she was when they left her and she needs to stop clinging to a past that's not coming back. It's why she can't let go. I had to learn the hard way to let go when I first phased. I wanted so badly to cling to my old life, Leah." He cuts himself off thinking back to that time. He couldn't help but notice the parallels between him and Bella, and the foolish mistakes they both made clinging onto something they couldn't have back. "I wasn't her Sam the moment I phased. I held onto her as much as I could, and fate did the right thing. I'd been lying to her and would have had to continue lying to her and that was eating away at me, but the universe gave me an easy way out and I took it. I won't say it was the best decision because I obviously could have handled it better, but nothing good in life is ever easy. Bella hasn't learned that yet, but with the path she's on, she will soon."

Jacob notices the shift—this isn't about him anymore, but he got the message all the same. He always knew she was stuck in the past and he was willing to wait until she got out of it, but now patience wasn't an option. The leech had screwed everything up for her and him. He sees she's not happy with him—the way the joy leaves her face every time she mentions him, the way she has to "asks permission" to go places. She's not happy and apparently content staying that way. He was at his ropes end on what to do, even going for unorthodox methods. He figured it always works for the guy in the movie, why not him? He obviously knew there was a difference between real life and movies and that day had made it painfully clear but it was what he was left with.

He gets up to leave before he remembers the real reason he actually came over. "Did you want me to take over Leah's patrol tonight?"

"No, why would I want you to do that?"

"Well, it's her birthday dude. I realized it earlier and thought giving her patrol on her birthday isn't exactly the best way to get on her good side and I'm free tonight."

"Oh, how did I forget? Actually, how did you remember?" Sam looks at him suspiciously.

He just shrugs. "I don't know? It's kinda hard to forget someone's birthday when you've been forced to go to their birthday parties since birth. The real question is how did you not remember? She was your girlfriend for how long?" Jacob smirks at him antagonizingly.

"Shut up."

"Is that an alpha order?"

"No, but it can be."

"Careful, take it too far and I might just decide to take that title away from you."

"Except you and I both know you're not going to do that." Jacob concedes that he's right. He's 16 and already has too much responsibility.

"Where did we get on that patrol thing?"

"Don't worry about it. I'll take over for her"

"Alright, later man."

Emily waits one full minute before she decides to come down from her spot perched on the stairs. She isn't quite sure how to process the new information, so she opts for just ignoring it like she was supposed to last time. She really shouldn't be eavesdropping

Charlie gets home and finds Leah holding Daniel, Bella, and Allison Uley all in his living room watching TV. It's quite an odd sight for him especially since Leah and Bella didn't really seem to get along. This made things harder.

"Hey…"

"Hello, Charlie. It's been a while." Allison is the first to greet him.

"Yeah, it has. How are things?"

"All things considered, good. You?"

"Good," he smiles and nods and tries not think about how worried he is about Bella.

"Leah, can I talk to you a moment?" She hands her son over to Allison immediately and follows his into the den.

"If this is about me having someone over without asking, I'm sorry I didn't know she was coming."

"No, it's not about that."

"Then what is it?" Leah moves back on the balls of her feet nervously.

"I want to talk about your living arrangements."

She takes a deep breath in nervousness. She had always known Charlie's hospitality was going to have a time limit. "I can find somewhere else to go if you want."

"No, no. I just wanted to know what your permanent plans are. You've been here a month and you're still living out of your suitcase, you keep things unusually tidy for someone with a baby. If you're not going anywhere anytime soon I want you to settle in more."

"Oh," is all she lets out. In all honesty, she hadn't really thought about her future or permeant plans—she was basically living one day at a time. "Um…I don't know. I guess I haven't really thought of it. Actually, I thought I would be at home by now but that obviously hasn't happened, so I don't know."

"Well, you don't need to figure that out right this instant, but just tell me when you do."

"Okay, you'll be the first I tell." She motions to go back to the living room, but he stops her.

"Wait, I have something for you." He leaves the room briefly and then comes back with Sue's present. "Happy Birthday."

She looks at him confused. "Huh?"

"Happy Birthday," he just states back to her handing her the gift bag.

"Thank you, but it's not my birthday," she says taking the bag from him.

"Well according to your mom it is."

She starts pulling out the tissue paper until she gets to the treasure inside. She finds the hand woven baby blanket that had been passed down in her family. It was her mother's first and then hers, then Seth's and now Daniels. She felt tears pin prick at her eyes.

"I don't understand, my Birthday isn't until the 14th."

"Today is the 14th Leah." He smiles wryly at her.

"Oh."

Despite protests, Leah decided to go on patrol anyway. Daniel was safe with Allison and Leah had nowhere, in particular, she wanted to go. She had no friends or money, so it wasn't like she could do much. In fact had it not been for her mother she would have let her entire birthday pass without notice. Life had just been too hectic for her to keep track.

He patrol buddy tonight was Embry—their route took them around the perimeter of the reservation. They were both mindlessly running the route when he speaks.

Happy Birthday. He sounds genuine.

Thank you, I guess.

You're welcome. He states simply.

There's an awkward silence before he decides to break it again.

So how was your day?

You know we don't need to have small talk, right? Especially since we're not exactly on the best of terms.

I know, but I thought we could maybe change that.

Why?

Because something needs to change, You said it yourself. He says earnestly.

She lets his words sink in. He's right and how does she expect anything to change if she's not receptive when they make the first move. She's not coming back to the reservation anytime soon, but small talk couldn't hurt.

My day was interesting I got a visit from Sam's mom.

Whoa, what was that like?

Enlightening. She trails off.

She thinks back to the conversation from earlier. Sam didn't just leave her, he left his mother too. They were two sides of the same coin and now she had a growing list of people she could trust.

I'm glad your day went well.

Thank you.

The run around in silence again this time comfortable. She thinks back to when she was talking to Allison after she got Daniel to stop crying. She talked about being single mothers and the strain of being all alone. They also briefly breached the subject of letting Sam in her son's life. While Leah still felt she couldn't trust him she does realize the importance of having both parents in a child's life. That conversation had left her worried about what she'd doomed her son into. She didn't exactly have personal experience with a non-traditional household—she always had two loving parents.

She thinks about asking Embry, what it's like, but they just got to small talk. She didn't want to ruin what little friendship they had by rubbing salt in the same wound she always picks at.

Her worry is unfounded as he starts the conversation for her.

It's not that bad. My life wasn't ruined by not have a father around especially since I never knew him. I don't feel like I've lost anything. Sure there are things I missed out on and I had to grow up faster than a lot of my friends, but it's not bad.

Do you think things would be better if he was around or you even knew who he was?

He takes a step back in thoughtfulness.

Sometimes. Sometimes I think things would be easier that I would have gotten to spend more time at home instead of daycare or a babysitter. I think about him being the one to teach me about motorcycles instead of someone else's dad, but I can't change what already is.

But I can.

Do you think you should?

I don't know anymore.

They let things go quiet again—Leah in contemplation, Embry trying to give her the space they need. She was almost too deep in thought to not notice it. The sickeningly sweet smell that was definitely not a Cullen. They both stop in their tracks changing their course to follow the scent. Embry howls to alert the others. They don't know what they're going to find, but they're pretty sure it's not going to be pretty.

A/N: Alright so that was a lot this chapter I hope it wasn't too confusing. Also, tell me what you think of this chapter. Did I make Leah too soft? It's the projection in which I wanted her to go but it may be too soon? Anyways there are about 4 or 5 chapters left of this fic depending on if I decide to write an epilogue. I'm really hoping to finish this by the end of the year, but as I've basically shown in the past I'm terrible with deadlines and I start a three month EMT program in October that will be taking up a lot of my time then, so I probably won't finish it by then, but I'm trying to be optimistic.