A Fire to Keep Me Warm

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

AN: This is a short chapter and Paul's narrating it. I didn't have too much to add, since I'm wondering how I'm going to end this story. Hopefully, I will and I will get to give my fingers a break from all this typing. Again, thanks for reviewing. I love you all.

Brothers and Sister

Paul's POV

It was three days before Francheska's departure to Brazil. I was surprised that I had held it together for so long. I mean, that was my baby sister that was making an adult decision for the first time and it was scaring me. She was leaving and I couldn't stop her. I had no right to stop her. She wasn't meant to be stuck in this reservation for life. She'd a choice! Not that I mind being a wolf and I definitely didn't mind protecting my people. I was glad to finally find something that I was good at. I just didn't picture my sister stuck in a small town, with the same people, where the most interesting thing that ever happened here was cliff diving or dirt bike riding. There was nothing for my little sister here. She was the only one of my siblings, that had the opportunity to leave and make something of herself. She was the one of my siblings that could spread her wings and fly faraway from here. I wanted her to find her true happiness.

I've always been proud of her. I've watched her grow in to an amazing young girl. I've loved her from the moment mom and dad told Dai and me that our mom was pregnant and was having a little brother or sister. I remember my mother tucking me in at night. She would lay beside me in my bed and read my favorite bedtime story and I would be touching my mom's belly and wishing that it wasn't a dumb brother like Damon Jose, but a tiny and beautiful sister. I guess that I prayed with such faith because a few months later, I was blessed with a beautiful little sister. She didn't look like Dai or me. Her features were more like my mother's; beautiful and delicate. She'd inherited the Latina side of our mother and they made her even more beautiful to me. My mom spent three weeks searching for a name for our sister. Dai wanted to call her Big Bird or Elmo; which he still does from time to time. I mean, he was only two and a half years old, but I always knew that my brother was going to be the dumb one in the family. He fell too many times on his head, unabling him to speak coherently at the time and rarely used that brain that God gave him(he still doesn't use it, but that's another story!).

I remember watching our mother going through different books looking for a name that was suitable for my new sister. She read many books and I remember watching how she fell asleep on the couch, tired of reading. I would approach her and play with my baby sister, because Cheskie was always in her bassinet next to our mother. One night, after our mom fell asleep, my little sister was cooing happily in her bassinet, when I loomed over her and she smiled at me. Her bright eyes were so radiant and she made me swear to myself that I was always going to protect her. I guess, that it's a normal thing for older brothers to watch over and protect their little sisters.

I placed my finger on her hand and she held it tightly. She smiled contently at me and didn't let go of my finger. I sat on the coffee table next to her and got bored of having her hold my index finger, so I began to skim through the books. That's when I saw the name Francisca and its different variations. I fell in love with the name Francheska. I woke my mother up and told her of my discovery. The next day, mom made lasagna and gave me a present. It was a Transformers toy and when I asked her what I did right, she hugged me and kissed my nose.

"You gave your sister her name," she smiled and turned to Dai and scolded him, because he was throwing the pasta on the baby's face.

When Francheska was three months old, we moved back to La Push. My father was from there and my family followed after him. A few weeks later, we went to visit an old friend of my father's. It was Harry Clearwater. He was a great guy and he loved us like we were his own children. He became Francheska's godfather and those two developed a special relationship. Everyone fell in love with my sister. She was so cute and so easygoing for a little baby. She didn't cry, only when she was hungry, wet or tired. Everyone loved playing with her. Leah and the Black twins babysat her and showered her with attention. Cheskie was the ideal little baby girl. We spent most of our Fridays and Saturday nights with the Clearwaters. No one really noticed, but I saw how my baby sister became infatuated with Harry's little son. His name was Seth. He was the same age as Damon, so he became good friends with my little brother. Cheskie's eyes would follow Seth in the room. Wherever he went, her eyes would too. If he wasn't within her eyesight, she would pout and look dejected, until her personal sun would appear.

Francheska continued to grow and so did her fascination with Seth. She followed him around like a faithful disciple. The first time she crawled, she ended crawling to where Seth and Damon sat, playing with their Lego blocks. She clapped happily when she reached his side and giggled nonstop. Seth didn't mind the attention that he got from her. In a way, now that I think about it, he enjoyed it. Cheskie's first word was Seth's name. My parents were surprised. They knew that she preferred him over all of us. Maybe that's why I didn't like him that much. He was her adoration and she defended him with all her might. I didn't understand what was happening, but I did know that someday, Seth was going to take my sister away from me. That pissed me off even more!

I tried to let go of these feelings, but the more I saw my sister become attach to him, the more I disliked him. Like every good story, it comes to an end. Seth phased into a werewolf just like me. That same night he found his soul mate in my sister. At first, I hated it. I wanted to rip his balls off, but then I saw how happy he made her and it calmed me-just a bit! It was strange to watch and witness how Seth saw my baby sister grow before his eyes. What surprised me was the fact that he'd loved her even before he knew that she was his soul mate. The kid has loved her forever and now that he knew that they were meant to be together, he decided to follow her to Brazil. I couldn't argue that. I knew that she was going to be safe with him.. Wherever she went he would follow. In a way, I'm happy, because I know firsthand what it means to love a person with all your heart and want to be there for them...

I sighed as I saw Damon and Cheskie laughed and joke as they approached my car. I had invited them to come and have dinner with me. I wanted to be able to spend some time with my siblings, since I have been so focused with work and my own imprint, Racehl, that I felt that I've abandoned the people that saw me grow into the person that I was today.

"Where are you taking us?" Damon asked, as he got inside my car and buckled his seatbelt.

"There better be food," Cheskie said, from the backseat. "There better not be girl's wearing skimpy outfits and dancing on a pole, Paul."

"Shut up, Elmo," Damon said happily. "This is good, our older brother is taking us out to eat and he's paying. What could be more fun?" Damon crossed his arms behind his head and sighed happily. "This is the life."

"You are shutting up, right?" Cheskie laughed. "Cause if you're gonna be talking all the way, then I want out!"

"Guys," I mumbled. "I just want to spend time with my brother and my dear sister. Is that a crime?"

"Paul," Cheskie said worriedly, as she leaned forward and placed her hand on my shoulder. I looked at her from the rearview mirror and sulked. I didn't want her to leave. She was still young. I didn't want to even think that my sis was going to be in Brazil away from me. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah," I said, smiling at her. "I'm just hungry." I lied.

She nodded and sat back on the backseat. "Are you happy?" she asked suddenly, bringing me back to the reality.

"Excuse me?" I asked befuddled.

"Are you happy?"

"Why do you ask?" I said, arching my brow.

"Because I want to know," she shrugged. "Are you and Damon happy?"

"I'm happy," Damon said in his nonchalant way. "Emma makes me extremely happy."

"I'm glad," Cheskie smiled. "What about you, Paul?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "Why do you ask?"

Cheskie crossed her legs in the backseat and shrugged. "Just curious."

"Are you happy?" I asked her, reducing the driving speed to a bit under the speed limit. She didn't answer and just stared at the road ahead. We drove down the main street and made a left on Vinyl St. It wasn't raining, which was a blessing, since it was always raining at this time of the year and the entire year in La Push.

"Yeah," Cheskie finally said. I looked at her from the rearview mirror and noticed that her eyes were moist with unshed tears. "I have my family… I have you guys. I know that I don't tell you often, but I think that Sweet-cakes is the best friend in the world. I love you and I'm happy that you found love." she choked, wiping a tear from her eye.

"What about me?" Damon asked, turning his body so he was facing her.

"I love you too, Dai! You guys are the most amazing brothers and I have been blessed to have you guys in my life. I'm blessed! I have mom and dad! They are great and they gave me older brothers that drive me crazy, but at the same time I love them so much!" she began to sob.

"We are blessed to have a cute sister like you," I blurted out. I never used cute, beautiful or anything that a teenage girl would over use in her vocabulary. But my little sister was so cute!

"Oh, don't say things like that," Cheskie sobbed, her voice breaking. "I'm g-gonna cry,"

"Paul she was already crying," Damon said, as he turned around to face the front. I pulled the car to the side of the road and placed the emergency break on. I unbuckled my seatbelt and opened the driver side door and walked out of the car and into the woods. I couldn't face it anymore. I was going to miss my sister and I couldn't cry in front of her. I didn't want her to think that I didn't want her to leave. I knew that this was going to be an excellent opportunity for her. She was smart and she did deserve this chance to learn and to become a responsible person.

"What is he doing?" I heard Francheska ask Damon, as she got out of the car.

"I don't know," Damon said, shrugging and unbuckled his seatbelt. "Let's follow him."

"OK," I heard Cheskie say. After a few seconds, Damon and Francheska stood behind me. We were overlooking the ocean and the beautiful sunset. "Wait, I know where we are,"

"You do?" I asked, turning to face her. She nodded and walked closer to me and linked her arm with mine. "We used to come here the three of us four summers ago. We used to jump down the cliff and land on the water. It was a riot!"

"Wow, that was years ago." Damon said, shaking his head. "We should do it again."

"Are you crazy?" I barked. The water was cold and I didn't want Ches to get sick, because we weren't careful enough.

"No, let's do it!" Cheskie said excitedly. "Please,"

"No," I mumbled. "Am I the only voice of reason here? Cheskie, the water is cold. You won't be able to survive a cold. Damon and I are wer-"

"Oh, come on!" she whined, laughing, as the wind tousled her hair in all directions. "I know that you are a werewolf. I've known for a while, so stop acting all protective on me. Come on! Look, if we jump together, with our arms linked, everything will be fine. Your heat, Sweet-cakes and Dai's heat, will keep me warm. Plus, the shore is just a short distanced swim away."

"Come on, Paulie!" Dai said happily. "She's living in two days. We won't have our sis for six months. Let's do it! Let's have fun memories! Who knows when it will be the next time that we get together, just the three of us!"

"No," I said, shaking my head. "We'll have more time to do things together, but not cliff diving in the cold water."

"Please,"

"No, Cheskie!"

"Please," Cheskie said, pouting. "I'll be very happy if we jump."

"Fine," I said, giving up as usual. Her pouts had the power to break me in to tiny pieces. She just looked so cute. I think that I have a sister-complex. Great! Another thing that has me so fucked up! "But don't blame me if you get sick!"

"I won't," she laughed. "Ready," Cheskie squealed happily, as she linked one arm with mine and the other with Damon's.

"Ready?!" Damon shouted. "You, Paul?"

"Ready," I muttered. We moved closer to the edge of the cliff and Cheskie looked down. "Are you ready, Francheska?"

"Never been ready!" she exclaimed, her heart was beating hard and fast against her chest. "Let's do this!" she said, as she created momentum and we ran closer to the edge and took a leap.

Thinking back to all the adventures and misadventures that I have lived with my sister, she's always been the most adventurous of us. Actually, Damon and her, sort of had that same spirit. I just gave in to their whims. I am such a pushover! I wonder if we'll have more moments like this. I wonder if my little sister will always stay like this. I hope that she always stays with that carefree spirit and wild heart that only make you want to live life to the fullest. I guess that she's going to be alright. I know that she's going to live a wonderful life.