Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own anything...I'm just playing.

Chapter 21: Mommy dearest

After the meeting with the Cullen's Jared decided to sneak back into Kim's room. After spending so much time around the stinky leeches he needed to fill his nose with Kim's scent. He realized that it made him sounds super creepy sneaking into Kim's room just to smell her, but he didn't care. There was something about just watching her sleep and breathing in her unique scent that instantly calmed and relaxed him and his wolf. It had been quite a long night, although he still didn't really like the Cullen's, they were slowly starting to grow on him, although he wasn't sure if he'd get to a place where he truly liked them. What with them being their sworn enemy and the reason he had transformed into a wolf.

But there was a tentative camaraderie forming, and he had a great deal of respect for the Southern one, and his experience was invaluable. Although Jared still didn't really want to know how he came about his vast knowledge of new born vampires, he was just grateful that he was willing to share. He just hoped that all this training would pay off, so that they could defeat the new born army, destroy the redhead, and then he could get back to spending time getting to know Kim. Jared quickly phased in the woods behind Kim's house and dressed before dashing out of the woods and into Kim's bedroom window. He was shocked to find out that Kim was still awake.

Kim sat there smiling at him; she realized that is was late, but honestly she couldn't sleep. She had been having a lot of trouble lately sleeping. Despite Jared's best efforts to play down the situation Kim knew it was much worse than he was letting on. She could see the worry lines that were forming on his face, plus there was the way he kept looking at her trying to etch her face into his memory whenever he thought she wasn't looking. She also saw all the tension that was being emitted from all the boys and just how tired and nervous they all were. She honestly just couldn't sleep, because she was concerned about the future. She had just found Jared and she really didn't want to lose him. Yes she knew that he was a shape shifter and he had accelerated healing, but that didn't make him invincible, he was fighting vampires for Christ sake! She just didn't want anything to happen to him, when they had only just found each other.

Plus she was also very worried about Embry. Although he would never tell anyone this, she knew that he was having a very hard time with his mother and it was starting to wear him down. Kim understood that the secret needed to be protected but did it need to be protected at the expense of a relationship between a mother and son? Kim just hoped that once this was all over, Embry would be able to convince his mother that he wasn't doing drugs, and maybe then they would be able to repair their relationship. As it stood Embry's mother would try to ground him, Embry would sneak out, she would try to ground him again and the cycle would continue with a few big confrontations thrown in. Kim knew that Embry feared that his relationship with his mother would never be fixed and she would always hate him. She also knew that he feared what would happen if he imprinted and had to bring the girl home to meet his mother.

All in all things were very stressful for everyone, but Kim immediately felt relaxed the second her eyes locked with Jared. The second they made eye contact it was like they were in their own private world, where all the stress didn't exist and it was just the two of them. Jared climbed next to Kim on the bed and pulled her close. He need to feel her pressed up against him, to reassure him and his wolf that she was safe and she was ok.

Jared was so exhausted that the second he wrapped his arms around her, Kim felt him fall instantly asleep. She took the time to really look at him, and she found that the more she looked at him the more handsome he became. He also looked so peaceful in his sleep, almost baby like. She stroked his hair for a few minutes, before she too fell asleep.

Kim and Jared awoke the next morning hearing a noise downstairs in the kitchen. Kim immediately began to panic until she realized what day it was, and then began to panic even more. Her mother was home and Jared was in bed with her! She quickly whispered to Jared that she was sure her mother was home and Jared quickly kissed Kim goodbye before stealthily jumping out the window. Kim quickly got dressed and headed downstairs to meet her mother for the first time in weeks. She was honestly dreading it, as much as she loved her mother they never saw eye to eye and Kim was happiest when her mother wasn't around.

Plus Kim really didn't want her mother to find out about Jared yet. She knew that although her mother loved Sam and his connection to the council, she still had her suspicions, like everyone else in this town, that Sam and his gang were involved in illegal activity. Kim just didn't want her mother to try to keep her from Jared. She just hoped that she could get through this 1 to 2 day visit with her mother, and then she would have another couple glorious weeks alone. It wasn't that she hated her mother, Kim just knew that under Jared's influence Kim was starting to change and gain some confidence and Kim was no longer willing to always bend to her mother's will.

Kim's mother really wasn't that bad, but Kim knew that after her father's death her mother had changed and though she was slowly starting to become more like her old self, since her promotion, but she was still very cold and reserved and demanded perfection. Kim missed the good old days when her father was around, and she wasn't bullied by people like Amber. Kim still remembered how she and Amber used to have play dates while her mother was at work. Amber and Kim would run around outside while her father and Ambers mother would drink lemonade outside on the deck.

Some of Kim's happiest memories from her early childhood contained Amber, although those memories were now buried deep and she rarely thought about them since Amber had caused her so much pain once her father had passed. Kim still didn't understand how she and Amber had gone from two children making mud pies to where they were now. Nonetheless things had drastically changed after her father died and Kim sometimes struggled to remember the good times and the love her mother displayed when her father was alive.

Bracing herself, Kim took a deep breath, put her hand on the doorknob, and got ready to visit with Mommy dearest.

A/N: So how was that? The next chapter we get to meet Kim's mom a little bit more :) I'll try to have the next update up by the weekend, but it might be sooner, if I get lots of reviews (hint, hint) :)

UPDATE: thank you to the anonymous reviewer who pointed out that this chapter had quite a few mistakes. I was in a rush and didn't proof-read properly. Here is the fixed version.