Chapter 21

December

Forks

Bella

There was nothing quite like the bright, brilliant gleam of the sun on a canvas of snow to make me forget why I hated living in the Northwest each winter. It wasn't the first snow of the year, but it was definitely the most substantial. More importantly, it was the first actual packing snow we'd had all season, which in my little world could only mean one thing.

It was time.

"C'mon mommy, let's go!" Billy squirmed and wriggled impatiently under my hands as I tugged a comb through his stubborn curls. "You're just gonna put a hat on it anyway."

"The kid has a point."

"Don't encourage him." Jacob's warm laughter sent Billy running over to his father, who obligingly stuck the hat in question over his head. Unlike the little boy, who was so buried beneath his parka, hat and mittens you could hardly see his face, Jacob was casually dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt. If you'd caught sight of him without knowing what he was you'd have thought he was standing outside in the middle of September instead of getting ready to lead a merciless battle for supremacy between the wolves and the vampire nation.

"You know Bells, the kid is part wolf. You probably don't need to stick this many clothes on him."

Pushing myself to my feet, I shot my husband a disgruntled look. It wasn't the first time he'd not-so-subtly pointed out that the little boy was starting to display some decidedly wolfy traits, including the tendency to run a temperature. His hat and coat, and probably his shoes, knowing my luck, would be lying in the snow before the day was done (and his father would be showing off an impressive amount of chest muscle before it was all said and done-yum). But for now?

"Until he decides to start going furry I'll use my mommy senses instead of trusting your blind wolfy faith, thank you very much."

"Suit yourself." Looking down at our son, Jake grinned fiendishly. "All right champ, you ready for the opening volley?"

A loud war whoop filled the room, completely drowning out my groan.

"I get to play too?" The little boy was bouncing anxiously from foot to foot, tugging on Jacob's hands in relentless excitement.

"Jacob, no. Absolutely not."

The love of my life completely ignored me. "Hell…ah, heck yes, you get to play. You're on Team Wolf, right? Gotta get you used to creaming those no-good vampires now, so you'll be really, really good at it when you're big like me."

"Jacob." There was no mistaking the warning in my voice. Damn it, Billy was NOT old enough for this. He was NOT going to do an end run around me this time.

Squatting down, Jake propped his elbows on his knees and winked conspiratorially at our son. "Tell mommy to stop being such a party pooper."

"Stop being a party pooper mommy." Billy immediately buried his nose in his father's chest so he couldn't see my face. Smart kid. He knew between mom and dad wasn't a good place to be when this volcano shot sky high. Before I had the chance to explain the many, many reasons this was a really bad idea, however, there was a knock at the door.

"Hello?"

Andy poked her head in, beaming out from underneath her multi-colored hat. "Hey guys, are you…whoa!" She laughed, staggering back a couple of steps when Billy barreled into her full speed. "What's going on little man?"

"Daddy says I'm part of Team Wolf!" The little imp beamed up at her, eyes dancing with pleasure at being included. Andy looked up in amusement.

"Has Daddy broken this handy little piece of information to mommy yet?"

"He just did." Jake walked over, peeling Billy off of his aunt's legs and throwing him over his shoulder in a fireman's carry before bending down to plant a kiss on her cherry red nose. "Keep hanging around outside and I'm going to have to start calling you Mrs. Claus."

"Funny. I always forget how funny you are. Not." The smile Billy had brought to her lips slowly slipped away. "Speaking of missus, is Embry here?"

"He's upstairs. Why?"

Before Andy had a chance to answer, however, there was a quick shuffle, then feet hopping down the stairs.

"Hey guys, ready to…?" Voice trailing off, Embry took the final leap down the last six stairs and landed with a thud. Either he was the best actor I'd ever seen or he was getting a lot better at tuning out the noise from downstairs, because he looked shocked to see his wife standing in the middle of our living room. "Andy. Hey."

"Hey."

"Apparently, he's right here." Jake tried to smile, his eyes flicking anxiously between the two, but Andy wasn't paying any attention. She was staring back at her husband like he was a knight in shining armor and she wasn't entirely certain he was going to stick around to kill the dragon. I realized with a mixture of trepidation and relief that there wasn't an ounce of hostility anywhere in Andy's blue gaze. Uncertainty, sure. Nerves? Absolutely. But hostility?

The shadows hiding in there had been conspicuously purged. Now she just looked scared and fragile and almost heartbreakingly young as she stood there staring at the man she'd married. The man she'd rejected. Over and over again. This was the first time in almost two years she'd made any effort to see Embry, which meant she must have finally decided to do something about the game of limbo they'd been playing for way too long.

"So, Bells, time to go." Jake shifted Billy to his hip with an easy movement that I had to envy. The little stinkpot was getting too heavy for me these days. Then he held out his hand.

"What, right now?"

Okay, whether my curiosity was killing me or not, that was the wrong choice of words. Jake just groaned and closed his eyes. Andy and Embry cracked up, however. Nice to know my humiliation was just the ice breaker they needed.

"No, it's okay Bella. You can stay. You too, Jake." Andy tipped her chin up at her adopted brother, flushing prettily. "You guys have been caught in the middle of this whole mess. You deserve to hear this too." Sucking in a deep breath, she squared her shoulders and said, "I want a divorce."

Woah. Flinching, I looked over at Jake, then Embry. He was just staring at her, his face completely neutral, but there were storm clouds brewing in his eyes. Then he snapped.

"You may want one, but you're going to be waiting till hell freezes over for me to give you one," he snarled. With his lips curled and his teeth showing he looked more feral now than he did when he decided to go furry.

"Yeah? Why?" Her words were soft, but there was a low tremble under the bravado in Andy's voice that caught my ear. She didn't sound angry, just resigned. Shoulders slumping, she looked down and awkwardly scuffed the carpet with her toe. "You can't possibly want to stay married to me. You didn't really want to marry me in the first place. You just had to because of this stupid imprinting stuff." Her eyes were shining with unshed tears when she looked back up. "Well, here you go. You're free to go do whatever it is you want to do, with whoever you want to do it with. I'm not going to try and stop you."

"Damn it." Pushing away from the stairs Embry caught his wife's hands, lifted them to his lips, then dropped to his knees at her feet. My own heart swelled at the lack of pride in the gesture. Andy just stared at him, tears still brimming, but eyes curiously blank. "You stupid idiot. It's always been you. Don't you get that? Imprint or no imprint, it doesn't matter. It's always been you. It'll always be you."

"What about her? It hasn't always been me, Embry." The first tear spilled over her cheek as she lowered her head to press her forehead against his. She didn't have to bend down very far. Even on his knees, Embry's head reached her shoulders. "I can't forget about that. I can't stop wondering if she really did brainwash you, or if you were already tired of me. I don't want to stay married and find out next year, or the year after that, that even with her gone you still don't want me anymore." Lifting her head, she gently cupped Embry's face in her hands, thumbs stroking softly along his cheekbones. "I love you, so much it scares me sometimes. You nearly broke me this time. I can't do this again. I just…I can't. I won't be your mistake, Em. And if I have to end this now to make sure that doesn't happen, I will."

"You still love me?" The befuddled wonder in Embry's eyes was gut wrenching. "Even after all of this?"

"Well, duh." Andy rolled her eyes, looking much more like the Andy I was used to seeing that the quiet, broken creature that had walked through the door. "If I didn't love you I'd have divorced your furry butt two years ago and been done with it."

"Jake?" Embry slowly rose to his feet, eyes still locked on his wife. His hands were trembling when he let go of her fingers. "Do me a favor?"

"Yeah, of course."

"Go on without me."

Jake's jaw dropped. "Dude, you can't be serious. We've been waiting for this all year. We need you."

"No you don't. You guys'll be fine without me." Threading his fingers through her hair, Embry stared at the finely spun gold spilling out from under Andy's hat like he'd never seen it before. "But I need her."

"Right. We were just leaving. Right, Jacob?" Staring pointedly at my gobsmacked husband, who was struggling to choke back the stream of abuse I knew he was dying to dump on Embry's head for defecting, I scooped up Jenny's car seat and headed for the door. "You guys take as long as you need."

"Thanks Bella." Embry gave me a brilliant, if slightly shaky, smile. "I owe you one."

"And don't think I'm not going to collect." A small smile of satisfaction tugged at the corners of my lips. They still weren't quite sure of each other, but it was nice to see those two getting back on the right track. "Hey, wolf boy! Move your ass or I'm gonna call Rachel and have her tell Paul you already ate."

"You wouldn't." Jake's voice was appalled.

"Speed dial 5, sweetcheeks," I said, pulling the phone out of my pocket and wiggling it in the air. "What's it going to be?"

Torn, Jake's head moved between me and the couple in the middle of the room, who were too wrapped up in each other to pay a lick of attention to what was going on over here.

"Ah, he wouldn't be any good right now anyway."

With that final pronouncement Jake grabbed Jenny out of my hands and walked out the door. Stepping out behind him, I looked back one more time. Embry had his face buried in Andy's hat now, and her hands were clutching firmly onto the front of his shirt. Both of them had tears streaming down their faces.

I was dying to see how this was going to work out, but I could get the info from Andy later. For the moment, it looked like immediate disaster had been averted. And we had a war to win.

We were greeted by a solid 'thunk' on the window when we pulled into the Cullens' front lawn. Jake was out the door like a shot, dragging Billy with him. All I could do was laugh. Looked like the opening volley had been thrown without him. Imagine that.

You'd think a group of vampires well into their second century of living and a pack of wolves all well into adulthood would be too old for a snowball fight. You'd be wrong. Every December there was an all-out free-for-all between the Cullens and the wolves for unquestioned bragging rights for the next 12 months. Positive proof that you were never too old to act like an overgrown child.

Looked like Emmett and Jasper had been bored waiting for everyone to get there. Opposing forts had already been built out of blocks of ice and snow on either side of the side yard, stretching almost to the top of the house. Jake and Billy were nowhere to be seen; however, since the humans were formally uninvited to the battle (for obvious reasons; I could get plenty of bruises and broken bones all by myself, thank you very much, and snow hurt when it came flying at vampire speed) Jenny and I cheerfully headed for the group bundled around the bonfire burning merrily in the middle of the driveway.

"Oh, thank god." Emily laughed as she pulled me into a hug. "Maybe Jake can calm them down a little. They're insane this year."

"Yeah, I wouldn't count on it. Jake was out the door before the truck stopped moving when we pulled in."

As soon as she let me go Emily bent down to scoop Jenny out of her carrier. Looking around at the rest of our motley crew, I had to grin. Sue Clearwater, Kim and Rachel were arguing cheerfully while they roasted a steadily growing pile of hot dogs. Looked like the womenfolk had copped KP again. No surprise there, and it was good to see the other "wolf girls" smiling again.

"Your dad took one look at the pile of food we put together and volunteered to haul wood up from the woodshed," said Emily, following my gaze. "I can't say I blame him. I was up most of the night making enough pasta salad to feed a small country."

"You'd think we never feed them, the way they eat when we're all together. What's Charlie doing here? I thought he had to work."

"I do. Later." Charlie's gruff voice in my ear made me jump. Laughing, I spun around and threw my arms around him. "Hey kiddo." His voice was warm, and if the hands patting my back were just a little bit awkward, well, that was just Charlie.

"Hey Dad. Welcome to Bedlam." Scrunching my eyebrows together, I tried to remember. "Were you here for this last year?"

"No, although I did have to field complaints from the neighbors."

"What neighbors? The Cullens don't have any neighbors for miles."

"I know," he said dryly, placing a kiss on my head and stepping back. "That made it a lot harder to come up with a plausible excuse."

"And we're very grateful to you for doing so." Carlisle walked over, a warm smile on his face, cookie crumbs scattered down the front of his usually impeccable jacket from the well-bundled toddler on his hip. "Hello Bella. I was starting to wonder if you were going to make it."

"Wouldn't miss it for the world." Pulling Carlisle in for a hug, I breathed in the scent of his laundry soap mixed with the familiar smell of baby shampoo. It was so good to have all of my family together in one place. After all the years that the pack had butted heads with the Cullens, I'd never take moments like this for granted. "Hey Jeremy," I said to the little boy. "Where's Max?"

"Inside with Kara. This little guy," he bounced Jeremy, making him giggle cheerfully, "had had quite enough of being in the house, so I volunteered to bring him out for a bit."

"Aren't you going to miss the snowball fight?"

Carlisle rolled his eyes, looking so paternally disapproving that I had to laugh-until I noticed the glint in his eye. "The opening volley was launched in the wee hours of the morning. What you're seeing now is actually round three. Or perhaps it was round four."

"Carlisle stuffed Sam headfirst into a snow bank when he tried to rush the line," said Emily with inhuman glee. "You should have seen it Bella, it was glorious."

"Yes, well." Carlisle cleared his throat uncomfortably, but he was smiling. I had to laugh. It was always so funny to see moments when Carlisle crawled out of his parental shell. The oh-so-proper Dr. Cullen wasn't so proper after all.

"Come here little man." Sue popped up beside me, holding her arms out for the little boy. He obligingly made the jump. Good grief.

"Well, that one certainly isn't shy." Grinning, I reached over and pinched one of Jeremy's cheeks. It had only been a week since Max had dropped the bombshell that she was bringing the kids to the Cullen house, but they seemed to be settling right in. "How is life with the constant pitter patter of little feet?"

"He's pulled all of the books off the bookshelves, nearly toppled Jasper's sword collection, shattered an entire carton of eggs and used the Nesquick Rosalie keeps in the pantry to create a sandbox in the middle of the kitchen. And that was just yesterday." Carlisle rolled his eyes, but his smile was soft and warm when he reached out to scrub his hands across the top of the little boy's head. "It's been delightful."

"A wee bit different than a house full of teenagers, isn't it?" Sue laughed sympathetically. "There are times I miss those days. Then I borrow Billy for the weekend and remember why I was thrilled the day they started school. How's Kara doing?"

"She's improving, a little bit at a time." A shadow passed across Carlisle's face, sending chills down my spine. "She's wasn't up for the day's festivities, so Max has her settled on the couch. I believe they were planning a movie marathon this afternoon. The poor child will start crawling the walls soon enough."

"When was the last time Max got out of the house?" asked Sue with an arched eyebrow. When Carlisle just stared at her blankly she sighed. "Just like my Harry. You're lucky Max isn't the one crawling the walls by now." Looking down at Jeremy, she grinned. "What do you think, little man? Want to go visit your sister and give Max a break?" When Jeremy's lip started to pout at the thought of having to go back inside, Sue leaned forward and whispered conspiratorially, "I know where Rosalie hid the markers."

A second later the two of them were bound for the house, Jeremy jabbering away a mile a minute about what he was going to do once he got his hands on his beloved ColorWonders. Carlisle watched them go, a slightly mournful look on his face.

"They're traitors, Dr. Cullen. The whole lot of them." Charlie slapped Carlisle on the shoulder with a grin. "I'll never forget the time I took Bella over to Billy's. Clung to me like a burr until Jake's mom pulled a box of Barbies off the top shelf. I had to drag her kicking and screaming out the door at the end of the day."

"Children are resilient. It's something to be grateful for." Carlisle's eyes shifted over my shoulder, his smile growing wider. Max was flying down the stairs, coat half zipped, her hat hanging off her head at some bizarre angle. Hitting the bottom, she threw her arms out and spun around like Julie Andrews in "The Sound of Music." Only in this case it was more like the hills were alive with the sound of snowballs and harsh masculine grunts.

"Hallelujah! Fresh air!" Laughing, she came over and pulled me into a tight hug. "Hey Bells! Sorry. I saw you come in, but Kara's hitting that cranky phase where she's bored out of her mind. I didn't dare leave her alone. I owe Sue a big one for this."

"Don't worry about it. She and Charlie are loving having another set of grandkids around to spoil. Don't say it!" I said when she opened her mouth to argue. "You've been my best friend for what, like, nine years now? At this point, you're family. She's been foaming at the mouth all week to get out here and get her hands on those kids. Charlie had to practically sit on her to give you time to get settled in."

"Well, she was welcome. Anytime. Seriously. I forgot how much work entertaining a bored pair of kids could be. So!" Max rubbed her hands together with glee. "I've only got about a half an hour before Sue starts screaming for mercy. Who's up for sledding?" She looked hopefully from me to Charlie, then over at the group around the fire.

"Not a chance!" laughed Kim, who was obviously paying more attention than I thought she was. "If these aren't done by the time they get done over there, they're going to start looking for something else to chew on."

"Like you'd mind," snorted Rachel, giggling when Kim gave her a shove. The two got into a quick tussle by the fire. Max grinned, turning back around.

"Emily? Bella?"

"No thanks. At least two of those giant appetites are mine. If Emily doesn't mind keeping an eye on Jenny for a while, I think I'll go give them a hand with hot dog production."

Emily opened her mouth, but Charlie hopped in first.

"Actually, I think I'm ready to thaw out for a bit. Why don't I take her and join Sue inside? That way she'll have an extra set of hands. Max, take your time coming back in. I mean it," he said sternly. Before anyone could argue he'd reached out, plucked Jenny out of Emily's arms and headed for the house.

"Well." Max watched him go, her face a study in baffled amusement. "Not that I'm going to complain, but does he know what he's getting into?"

"He survived my childhood. I think he'll manage whatever those three can dish out for a while." Then inspiration struck. "Hey, you should grab Carlisle and go hit the slopes. I'll bet he doesn't remember the last time he was on a sled."

"Good idea. Dr. C?" Brow raised in challenge, Max turned to look at Carlisle. Pulling a pair of gloves out of his pocket (did wet clothes bother vampires too?) Carlisle tugged them on.

"Actually, I recall my last sledding experience very well. It was the first snowfall of the year, and my cousins and I headed to the hills just outside of London." Looking up, he smiled wickedly. "In 1664."

"Which means you're about 335 years overdue," announced Max decisively. She disappeared around the house. When she reappeared her coat had been zipped, a purple pair of glittery gloves that matched the ridiculous hat on top of her hair covered her hands, and she was carrying the gliders Rosalie kept for the kids when the snow was heavy. "Time to put your money where your mouth is, Dr. C."

"I believe it was your mouth that came up with this, not mine." Reaching out, Carlisle caught one of the gliders and spun it in his hands.

"Potato, potahto. Put your money where my mouth is then." Max caught his hand and headed for the unoccupied hill that marked the edge of the Cullen's property. The one that wasn't in the middle of the war zone. Beside me, Emily laughed and shook her head.

"I wonder if he has a clue," she said in amusement, watching the pair walk away.

"A clue about what?"

"That he's falling for her."

It took a second for her words to sink in, but as soon as they did I choked on thin air. "Carlisle? And Max? Are you kidding me?" The slightly pitying look on Emily's face said she wasn't. "He's still not anything resembling over Esme. And even if he was… They're night and day. Jesus Emily, even if he was interested, they'd kill each other in a week!"

"Maybe. Maybe not. But it's all over his face when he looks at her." Shrugging, she stared after them, a thoughtful look pursing her pretty face. "Truthfully, I think she'd be good for him." She turned her head and laughed. "You should see your face. Come on Bella. I know you still think of him as Edward's father, but it's not a huge stretch of the imagination to see him as a very attractive, very single man."

"Yes but…he's always been like a dad to her." Bewildered, I looked over at the hill, where the unlikely pair was cheerfully flying down.

"Ah, but he's not her father, is he?" Emily's voice was firm now, firm enough to catch my attention. "She's been good for him. Everyone…Well, all of us have something we need him to be, don't we? His coven needed an alpha to guide them. Someone to help them stay alive, fly under the radar. Esme needed a rescuer, a broad pair of shoulders able to carry her burdens as well as his own, and someone to take care of her the way a man did a woman in those days. The younger Cullens, and you, needed a father figure. And the pack needs a doctor and a coven leader able to do what needs to be done. No one ever needs Carlisle.

"Max…well." Emily laughed. "Max doesn't need a provider, a father or a leader. And whether she needs a role model or not, she certainly doesn't see him as one. She's probably the only person in his life that doesn't need him to be anything other than exactly who he is when you take all that responsibility off his shoulders. He needed that."

Giving my shoulder a quick squeeze, Emily turned and walked back toward the fire. Looking back toward the hill, I laughed when Max tipped her sled to run into the man sliding down the hill next to her. The two rolled in a laughing tangle of limbs before Max landed underneath Carlisle's dark frame. I could see Carlisle's lips moving, but I couldn't hear the words, or what Max answered back. Whatever it was, it made him laugh, scoop up a handful of snow and scrub it affectionately over her face.

Where I'd missed her words before, her shriek was impossible to miss-even over the bedlam coming from the yard as the wolves decided they'd had enough of hiding and charged the Cullen fort en masse. Shaking my head, I turned back toward the fire. If the fight had degenerated this far, it wouldn't be long before they called a temporary draw and came looking for food. There'd be hell to pay if it wasn't ready to go.

Before I got there, however, something caught my eye. There was an unfamiliar black sedan driving down the driveway. The sound of the engine snagged the attention of the combatants on the field, freezing them in place like pawns on a chess board as the vehicle slid to a stop just a few feet from where I was standing. The driver stepped out and walked around to open the back door. I didn't know him, but I knew the clean-shaven face of the dark suited man that stepped out of the back seat all too well.

"Senator. Long time no see."