A/N I lied...again. Voting ends June 15th so please vote them asses off. Oh, c'mon, I said please.
Upon getting her acceptance letter to the Tribal school's dance team a week ago, Doll has taken vigorous charge of her new dance career, like buying her required leotard and tights with her birthday money. I'm pretty proud of her for taking such initiative. If only she could drive, then she could take herself to and from the school.
"When'd you say your competition is?" I ask, pulling up into the school's parking lot.
She rummages through her dance bag for the umpteenth time this car ride. "September third. You're coming, right?" She zips the bag closed.
"Of course," I promise, jokingly punching her shoulder. "What have you guys done so far?"
"Nothing much. Just a lot of ballet stuff and our instructor is teaching us how to do all these weird moves." Her voice trails off as she stares through the windshield at the school entrance.
"Is it fun so far?" I wonder. "Make any friends?"
She kinda hesitates. "I never really realized how annoying girls are."
I laugh heartily. "Annoying," I repeat.
"Well not annoying," she corrects herself. "Just really intense."
"How do you even know what that means?"
"Mom says it a lot, and I guess a lot of things are intense."
"How are they so intense?"
"Some of them have been in dance for a really long time. I'm not as good as them, it seems," she confides.
"Well, don't compare yourself to other girls. You might not dance as good as them but shit, you're probably prettier than them."
"It's not always about who's the prettiest, Dad," she replies, sighing heavily and sadly. That's a very insightful answer. I give her a sympathetic smile.
"They wouldn't have let you join if you couldn't dance," I remind her.
"It's only because I go here."
Various girls from around the county auditioned for a spot on the team. "It's not," I assure her, but she doesn't believe me. "How many girls are there, anyway?"
"Twenty girls and four boys."
Boys? "Oh," I say in understanding.
"What?"
"Nothing," I swear, and check the time. "Time for you to get going now."
She unbuckles her seatbelt, leans over, and kisses my cheek. "Love you, Daddy," she rushes the words out as I promise to be back in time to pick her up. As she hops out the front seat, I watch her walk towards the entrance just as a few other dancers are being dropped off as well. It's a group of them and they barely acknowledge her when she waves. They're a little bit older-looking than her.
I watch for more people to arrive a while after Doll enters the building. Two of the four boys she mentioned go in last after another group of little girls.
Having seen enough, I pull out the parking lot and head on home to my twins and Leah.
Like the angel she's become, Leah already has lunch made and the twins in their playpen, watching Caillou instead of Sesame Street. Even though the meal she's prepared is organic and lacking any type of calories, it doesn't matter because it's the thought that counts.
I, too, begin to watch the white, bald, cartoon boy on the screen, my head in Leah's lap as she sits Indian-style in the center of the playpen, watching the cartoon as well.
"Do you remember this one?" she questions, referring to the show. I shake my head.
"I think this one was a little after we were kids," I reply.
I can actually see my five-year-old self getting interested in a show like this though. Somehow this is more amusing than football or a car's engine.
Once the show goes off, the twins become a little restless and uneasy. With the hip-hop channel station, Leah breastfeeds on the couch, watching one of her reality fashion shows as she does. I watch for a while, too, until I get hungry again and eat one of her protein energy bars. Since it doesn't fill me up, however, I continue onto leftovers. Once the twins are fed and changed, I get an idea.
"Let's go to First Beach," I suggest while Jacob sits upright with little assistance in my lap. Leah's eyes don't leave the television when she answers okay.
After her show goes off, I dress the twins in the matching sailor bathing suits that Sue got us for our baby shower. They're not restless or resistant as I slip them into their cover- ups.
"You guys ready to go the beach for the first time?" I ask, slipping on Jacob's sandal. He lies there, staring elsewhere. Tee burps.
"I'll take that as a yes. I think you guys'll like First Beach. Your mama and I practically grew up on that beach. Many summers have been spent there. That beach has a lot of history, actually."
Jacob usually nods off during my stories, but Tee is often quite intrigued.
"Maybe your uncles will be there," I wonder, putting her hot pink, miniature, flip-flop on now. "They usually are."
July's last few remaining sun beams shine through the window opposite of the room. Summer's nearly gone and we're just now getting to the beach. I sigh at how beautiful La Push can be sometimes.
I set the twins carefully into their respective cribs when I'm done. "I'll be right back. Daddy's gotta put his trunks on."
That is, if I can find any. When was the last time I wore a bathing suit? I haven't been swimming in—
"Whoa," I cut myself off as I enter our bedroom to see Leah's Coca-Cola shape body exposed in a string bikini with marijuana leaves printed on the material in various shades of green. She's got her back to me but I hear her chuckle at my reaction.
"You still have that," I note in admiration, leaning on the threshold. Last time I saw this bathing suit was probably before we even started dating. When the suit first premiered, the bust, ass, and hips area didn't fill out. Once she turns to face me now, her tits, hips, and booty hit all the right curves and fit just right. I cross my legs to cover my excitement. Thank you, puberty.
"I know it's not entirely appropriate for a day at the beach with your kids, but I can't find any of my other ones," she apologizes, referring to the leaves. Leah searches through the dresser drawer for a moment until she pulls out an underused pair of trunks to toss at me. I catch them, throw them on the bed, and remove my socks. I unzip my jeans but leave my boxers on to put the trunks on over.
"Why do boys do that?" she questions over shutting the drawer. I hear her jean shorts zipper go up.
"Do what? Hand me a tank."
She re-opens the dresser and looks for a tank top. "Wear boxers under swim trunks."
I grip my junk to emphasize. "'Cause there's a loose goose down here."
"Doesn't look so loose to me," she observes and tosses me a white tank top.
"You wanna take care of it for me?" I suggest.
She scoffs and rolls her eyes. "You put the twins in their suits?"
"Yeah, they're chillin.'"
She nods and finds a see-through cover-up to pull on over her head. "Okay. Let's go."
Man, I love First Beach.
The sun and water are always in sync and seemed to be perfectly coordinating with each other in terms of weather and scenery. Leah fits perfectly into the picture as she carries Tee close to her chest, slowly walking around in circles with the water reaching her thighs. Their tan skin against each other and insane black hair give their resemblance away almost instantly. To see a mother and her child so peacefully connected in this way seems like some shit out of the movies, but here Leah is, goddess body and all, carrying our baby and whispering to her. Even with all these annoying teenagers and other families here, nothing can distract me enough from those two, so I watch them closely and sigh.
My girls.
"Mommy's pretty beautiful, huh?" I ask of Jacob as he plays with my sunglasses on his face. He's in his favorite place: on my knees.
"Ner?" he responds.
"Ner is right."
Teigan stays perfectly on her mother's wide hip as the two twirl around the still water. The waves aren't crashing like usual, but they're actually chill, barely making a noise and hitting the rocks.
Leah kisses the top of Tee's head while she whispers something to the baby. A smile graces her face beautifully when Tee wiggles in her strong arms.
The sunglasses fall off Jacob's face but he picks them back up and puts them in his mouth. I laugh at him and put them back on his face properly. They twins will be teething soon.
"You wanna go in the water with Mama and Tee?" I ask rhetorically, and he crawls off my knees to my thighs, the sunglasses wobbling off his face. I steal them back from him and put them on my face now before gripping my top by the collar and pulling it off. I stand up, get him from under his arms, and set him on my hip. It's not a wide hip, but he stays sturdy enough.
The water is warm when each drop invades the spaces between my toes and up my feet. Leah watches me take careful steps into the tide, so she meets me halfway.
"Take her," she says quietly, carefully exchanging the twins. I have Tee in my arms now.
"What were you and him talking about?" Leah asks, inching closer and closer towards me, our thighs touching in the slightest. Her stomach has flattened, I notice. That yoga and organic food shit actually works. Her waist looks amazing as does her tattoo and scars. Her arms have redefined themselves, making the twin's names on her bicep pop.
"Nothing much," I reply, dipping a little lower into the water to get her toes wet. "He doesn't listen that well."
Leah's pink lips pepper Jacob's forehead in between smiles. "Just like his daddy," she says. She turns away from me with an inviting and seductive gleam from the sun in her hazel eyes. I follow and brush up behind her. Tee fits her miniature legs halfway around my torso and her arms grip around the back of my neck. She sets her head on my chest, sleeping peacefully.
"What were you and her talking about?" I ask.
Leah shrugs. "Just how I love her and La Push is her home and just all this cheesy, reassuring stuff. I told her a little something about Sarah, too."
"Really?"
She nods.
"What'd you tell her?"
Leah dips with me until the water reaches her and Jacob's chest. Her hair looks transparent beneath the greenish water.
"I told her that she was a really good mom and how she would've been an even better grandma. It made her happy," she tells me.
I look down at my daughter. "That made you happy, huh, Tee?" My huge finger caresses her entire hand. That odd crying sensation comes back to me, but I fight it unwillingly. These guys always make me unnecessarily sentimental.
"Yo, Jacob! Lee-Lee!" The voice echoes from shore, the character getting lost from the distance from us to whoever, making the voice unrecognizable. We both turn at the same time to see Rachel and Paul waving at us from our towel in the sand.
An instant smile grows upon Leah's face when she sets Jake on her hip and uses her free hand to grab mine. Tee balances perfectly on me like a monkey in a tree as we make our way over to shore to say hi.
"You wanna see your Uncle Paul and Aunt Rachel?" Leah amuses Jacob and he just plays in her wet hair, trying to put it in his mouth. I check up on Teigan; her eyes have opened and she's just staring at me.
"Aw, my two favorite boogers," Paul greets with a goofy grin as he holds Rachel by her hips, close to his side. She flashes us both a genuine smile.
"A bit early in life to be boogers, don't-cha think?" Leah corrects him, but he just laughs.
"I was talking about you two," he replies, making Rach roll her eyes and unroll the towel under her arm.
I stick my tongue out at Paul and bounce Tee in my arms. "Hardy-har."
"You know it's all love. Where's the oldest germ?"
"Doll's at dance practice," I answer, keeping a rhythm with Tee's tiny body. "Right, Tee? Your sissy's at dance practice."
"How long you guys been here?" Paul asks, retrieving sunscreen from Rach as she spreads some on herself.
"Like, twenty minutes," Lee answers, drying her hair with one hand as she prepares to lie on the towel. Jacob watches us all in confusion.
"Bet you haven't gotten a good dip in yet," Rach says, getting into the perfect tanning position. I wanna take a sweater and cover her up.
"Eh, it's okay. The twins are relaxed, that's the important part," she replies, rubbing Jacob's cheeks while popping a squat next to Rachel.
"Why don't you have a quick swim? We can watch them for a few," my sister suggests, sitting upward.
"Really?" Leah says, shocked at the gesture.
"Yeah, I don't plan on swimming so I don't have an issue babysitting," she insists, removing her shades. I've already mentally said yes, but it's Leah's approval that really counts. It's like Satan's nut sack out on this beach and just getting my legs wet didn't suffice.
There doesn't seem to be a hint of uncertainty in Leah's voice or face when she agrees and gives Jacob to his eldest aunt. Paul's funny-looking expression makes me cautious in setting the child on his chest. He supports her accordingly and grins at her as she stares back inventively.
He smirks. "Kid looks hella like you, Jake." I nod in agreement, a side smile forming upon my lips.
Leah stands up and gets my hand in hers again, this time intertwining each finger. She's already begun leading us to the water as she yells, "My babies better be in one piece when I get back!" behind her. Rachel is fine but Paul. . .well he's Paul.
"C'mon," I grunt and catch Leah by surprise with throwing her over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes and getting a startled yelp followed by a cute giggle in return. Once we sink to thigh level water, she reaches farther down to grip my trunks, but I stop her by playfully tipping her over and letting her dive in backwards. That splash and everything that follows seems like a complete flashback to summer of 2002 when I was sixteen and Leah was seven months fifteen. The way she resurfaces from under the water with that bright smile and same bathing suit sends me back. Way back.
She hardly looks the same. Fifteen-year-old Leah was pretty hot, but that Leah was different. That Leah would've pretended not to like it when I dunk her underwater and splashed me in retaliation. That Leah would've attempted to wrestle me under the waves to impress the other boys who watched from the shore and dared me to even do so. That Leah always lost and ended up slipping under when I got her weak spot and there'd be a moment of slight sexual tension between us when she'd have her legs wrapped protectively around my waist when a huge wave would whoosh by, threatening to send us back to shore. Somehow, she never held on tight enough because we'd end up getting separated anyway. As time went on and the early 2000s faded into the mid-2000s, she seemed to have a stronger grip—both in and out of the water.
But it's a different year now. She's five months shy of twenty-seven and that same chick who tried to wrestle me down between the waves of First Beach is an Alpha. She still tries to wrestle me, but old habits die hard and I end up getting her under, anyway. Instead of fighting back, she climbs her way on my back and clings for dear life when waves come by. She laughs and lets her hair get wet without worry of having to do it later. And like nobody's around, we taste the salt in each other's mouths from the water, her body wrapped around mine like she were molded to fit here.
And every so often, we make fun of Paul and Rachel attempting and failing miserably at getting the twins to calm down when they begin fussing.
"Should we help 'em?" Leah asks, floating on her back with her ass as a flotation device. Like a crocodile, my eyes stay lurking above the water. Setting my feet on the ocean floor, I carefully take her hand into mine and bring her back to my level.
"Come on. Play time's over."
Without even trying, she makes an innocent action like getting out of the ocean look sexy. It's just in the nature of chicks like her.
"Tired already?" Leah teases when she gets Tee back from a no-longer-goofing Paul. He snickers, stands, and brushes the sand off his shorts.
"We gotta go," he announces when Rach puts Jake back in my arms. The three of us whip our heads about to look at him. Leah has her face scrunched.
"Go?" she repeats. "Go where?"
"Sam just texted me. Last minute pack meeting. Says it's important."
That makes Leah's eyes roll. "Of course he did." Her face shows deliberation. "Is it absolutely mandatory that we go?"
He answers uneasily. "We"—he gestures between himself and Leah—"have to go."
She soon catches on, but I ignore her pity. "Oh," she says, and grabs a towel from the beach bag to begin drying herself off. "Jacob, just stay here with the twins, alright?"
I nod, annoyed, and sit upright to place the twins between my knees. They seem comfortable there.
"If I'm not back by this evening, just meet me at home, okay?" She throws me the damp towel and grabs her shorts and cover-up. I watch her re-dress and fix her hair slowly to stall time. All it took was a vampire attack to kick me out of my own pack?
"Mommy'll be right back," Leah coos, bending over in front of me, without bending her legs, to kiss their cheeks. "Mami will be back." her voice goes to a sultry whisper with a Hispanic accent to assist the sensuality. Her kiss-swollen lips peck mine sweetly before she straightens out, waves goodbye to my sister, and follows Paul back to his truck.
What began as a family day ends up as a sister-brother date. It's still technically a family day, but I can't ogle my sister in her bikini. Instead of moping, I make the best of the rest of the day with my sister. We have a sweet heart-to-heart as she tans—why? I'm not sure—and I find out her and Paul have been wanting a baby of their own since the twins were born. They're not the only ones.
"Well, just a warning," I tell her cautiously, "it's a lot of work. Yeah, they're cute now, but don't let their chubby cheeks and tiny toes fool you. They're pissing, drooling, crying machines." As she plays in Tee's curls, she barks out a laugh.
"My kid brother is giving me advice about babies. This has what my life has come to?" she teases.
Since neither Leah nor Paul have returned by the time twilight is rolling by, I take Rachel home and head back to our place, hoping Leah would be there already. The house is silent and empty, so I shrug it off and prepare to feed the twins. Well, I don't have breasts so I pop out the bottles, mix the formula, and heat them just enough. I test it on the back of my hand, let the bottles cool, and try remembering how Leah showed me how to feed them. I feel as though I'm doing it right when they quietly suck the bottles peacefully in my lap, while watching the TV.
I've got this newborn-kinda-first-time-daddy shit down. After eating for myself and deciding not to move for a good few hours, I relax as well with the twins until Leah comes home, which is at seven-something.
"Ah, Mama's home!" I exclaim when she swishes through the front door in a hurried fury to the kitchen. She ignores my greeting and her sheer annoyance and frustration is enough to heat up the whole room.
I roll my eyes. What'd Sam do now?
"Stay here," I instruct the distracted twins as they lay on their bellies in the middle of the playpen. She rushes right into the kitchen, and when I round the corner, her head is in the fridge.
"Leah?" I test, but my calmness doesn't pass on.
"I'm done!" she announces loudly, slamming the fridge startlingly, the anger and hostility as readable as a book. I jump and weakly put my hands up in defense.
"Aye, calm your tits! The twins are in the other room," I remind her, but she interrupts me.
"They should be upstairs, anyway," she growls, arms folded, scowling and turning me on.
"What happened? You're done? Done with what?"
She leans on the counter and fiercely grasps the edges, clawing the marble. Her hair is an unorganized curly mess; her skin is damp and prickled with anxious goosebumps while her form shakes lightly. She's phased.
And she's pissed.
"Leah," I stand before her, casually checking on the twins from around the corner. "What'd he do?"
She turns her face away when I try to put her chin in my hands. Her scoff is intimidating.
"I can't kill the messenger," her timbre is a lot softer this time. "I'm so fucking done with this Alpha shit."
"You'd rather re-join Sam?"
Her glare represents evil.
"Just tell me what the hell happened," I beg once and caress her arms till her palms loop around mine.
She's hesitant for a few moments before sassily licking her teeth. "Your little girlfriend has gone missing."
"Huh?"
"Renesmee hasn't been home for three days," she informs me sourly. "No note, no phone call, nothing. Even Seth doesn't know where she is. No one's seen her since Sue and Charlie's wedding." I reluctantly let it all sink in.
Shit. I sigh.
"Edward and Bella think she's been kidnapped," she growls, digging her nails into my hands. "They went searching for her, but her scent can't be tracked from here to Canada. The council has ordered for the packs to do patrols again, starting tomorrow night."
I nod. "Fuck."
"Oh, you think that's bad?" she chuckles without amusement. "For some fucking reason, you're heavily involved and the Council thinks you have something to do with it! They expect you to know where their little princess is!" she yells, poking my chest, laughing wickedly.
"What do I have to do with anything? Can't even phase," I mutter the last part shamefully.
"She's your damn imprint and because you couldn't keep it in your pants, they assume you keep tabs on her like a fucking parole officer!" she shouts to the fullest extent, her voice breaking as she pushes me off of her.
"I don't know how many times I can tell you to quit yelling. Just calm down."
Leah scratches her temple and the beginning of her hairline. "Why, Jake? Goddamnit, Jake, why?"
"I'm sor—"
"Stop," she puts her hand up, stopping me. "Look, the Council and the packs have decided not to involve any humans in this. This situation has the potential to be dangerous, so we're not going to Charlie."
"Dangerous?"
She nods and bites her lip. "The Cullens and Sam think Rosalie has something to do with this. We can't risk anything by involving Charlie or Sue."
Rosalie? She has little to do with Nessie.
"What about Nahuel?"
The light bulb goes off atop her head. "Nahuel. Has he been—?"
"He hasn't been around in months," I tell her, and her eyes widen like we've made a world-changing discovery.
"What about Carson? He's been pretty scarce lately. You don't think he'd have something to do with—?"
"He's just a kid."
She takes that into consideration before nodding. "The Denalis wouldn't," she concludes. "Let's get them to bed and ask Doll."
After shutting everything downstairs off, we each pick up a twin and head upstairs to their nursery to get them to sleep. It takes us about ten minutes to get them to sleep before knocking on Doll's closed bedroom door.
"Doll?" I call on the other side after we get no response after numerous knocks. Leah tries, pressing her ear to the door and scrunching her face in confusion. We barge in now, walking into her empty room with drawings, colored pencils, and notepads on the floor and a cracked-open window, letting the wind cool everything down.
Leah and I call her name out but get no reply. Panic washes over the two of us when after checking under her bed and closet, there's still no sign of her.
"Jacob," her voice breaks as she checks every corner of this tiny room. "Jacob. No. No no no n-no no no no," she pants, falling to the ground and frantically searching. My breathing hitches just as the room begins to spin and swirl wildly like a rollercoaster having been knocked off its course. Leah rushes in and out of the room at the speed of light, searching, while I stand here, drowning in my own sweat, trying to figure out where the hell she could be.
I can't. I can't bear to put up a single flyer around La Push with Doll's face on it with big bold letter reading Missing. Gulping, my knees wobble and I grip her dresser to get a grasp of something real. This isn't happening. I can't. This isn't real.
"JACOB!" Leah shrieks, coming up behind me and punching me in the back, tears staining her face. "JACOB, WHERE IS SHE?!"
Getting weaker by the second, I attempt turning around to console her, but she's fighting me. "I don't know," I mutter.
"WHAT!" she screams, pulling back a fist but I answer louder.
"I don't know, Leah!"
Incredulously, she pushes me all the way against the wall, making the floor and furniture shake. "What do you mean, you don't know? You took her out this afternoon—" she begins, gripping me by my collar and on her toes to meet my eyes. I gasp as the rest of her statement unfolds. Her yelling and hollering and the level of intensity she's delivering jogs my memory back to this afternoon.
Damn, I'm an idiot.
"I know where she is!" I yell over her and untangle her fingers from around my tank top. She listens for a second and exhales, still in tears.
"Go get my fucking daughter," she hisses. "I'm not fucking with you. Go get my goddamn daughter. You go out there and find my fucking daughter, you sorry motherfucker or I swear to God I will—"
Uninterested in the rest of the threat, I untie ourselves from around each other and sigh in relief. Rushing passed her, the sound of the twins crying fills my ears and the guilt pangs.
"Jacob!" Leah hollers after me.
"I'll be right back!" I answer when I reach the bottom of the stairs, keys to the Rabbit in hand.
A/N AND S/O TO ALL THE BASIC BITCHES WHO'RE TOO SCARED TO SIGN THEIR NAME OR CREATE AN ACCOUNT WHEN THEY LEAVE NEGATIVE REVIEWS. SHOWS HOW MUCH BALLS YOU HAVE. :)