Chapter 25: A Passion for Painting

Disclaimer: S. Meyer owns Twilight.

I woke up with an angel near me on one side, and a little devil patting my arm on the other. I usually didn't sleep this late—it was already 6:15. One of my peepers opened, and there was Michel staring back at me, his brown eyes shining brightly. He tugged on my hand trying to drag me out of the bed. Slipping off the mattress as gently as possible, I grabbed some flannel PJ bottoms and stepped into them, one leg at a time. He pulled me into the kitchen, holding onto one of my fingers, and stood in front of a tall cabinet, pointing. Opening the door, I looked inside. There were several boxes of cereal on the shelves. Michel was bouncing excitedly now, and pointing all the more urgently. I took down one box, but he glowered and said, "No, no, dat one."

Okay, so he nixed my first choice. "This one?" I asked. The second box got the same reaction. He shook his head affirmatively as I pulled down the third one. Well whaddya know, my favorite too—Rice Krispies. I gave him the cereal and watched amused, as he struggled to set it on the table.

I got down a couple of bowls and two spoons, and poured in the cereal. Sitting Michel on his booster seat, I got out the milk and was ready to pour it when he complained loudly. "Noooo!"

He scurried down out of his seat, and swung the door open to the fridge. We played what do you want for a few minutes 'til I picked up a can of evaporated milk. Well, there's no accounting for taste. I poured it into his bowl and sprinkled some sugar over it.

Bella came walking into the kitchen just as we started eating. "Jake, you didn't need to do that. I was going to make breakfast for us."

She braced herself against the back of my chair, and tousled my hair. God, I loved it when she did that. Then she wound her arms around my neck and kissed the side of it sweetly. I loved it when she did that too. I was in heaven, with my honey kissing my neck while I munched on my krispies.

"Hey, no problem. He was hungry, weren't you, Mikey?"

He nodded his head vigorously, and added, "Hungry, Mommy."

She left another kiss on my cheek and I let out a sigh. Bella pulled down a bowl for herself, filling it with the cereal, and coating it with evaporated milk and sugar. Then she stuck in a spoon. She sat down by Michel and leaned toward him giving him a big hug.

"I asked Seth to come over today at 7:30, so he could watch Mikey while we paint. Is that okay with you?" I handed her a dish I had dried, and she put it back in the cupboard.

She soaped up and rinsed off another bowl. "Are you sure Seth won't mind?"

"Nah, he's used to being around his nieces and nephews. He's very responsible too."

By 8:30 all the trim was taped off and the drop cloths were in place. Seth and Michel were in the backyard running around playing hide and seek. Neither one of them seemed to mind being together.

Bella and I started the job in our bedroom first. While the initial coat was drying, we began painting Michel's room. After finishing two coats in each room, I decided to sketch some trees, birds and animals on one of Michel's walls. I'd probably have to paint over it when we got a permanent home, but hooh boy, I was havin' fun. I'd go fill it in with some stencil paint sometime next week.

Bella joined me in the living room, after admiring my mural. I had just started painting one wall. "Holy cow, Jake, how is it you have all these mad skills? Is there anything you can't do with your hands?"

Man, she walked right into that one. "Yeah, I can't seem to keep them off of you." She shrieked and giggled as I shoved her flat to the wall, teasing her with my mouth skimming all over her face and throat. When I let her go, that whole side of her clothes was covered in wet, sky-blue paint.

Looking at the mess I made of her, she scolded, "Jacob Black, "What am I going to do with you?"

My eyebrows danced to a silent melody, as I shot back, "I can think of one particular activity, but what did you have in mind?"

The little minx threw her paintbrush at me. Lucky I had such fast reflexes. She missed. I sauntered up to her, with the weapon in my hand, menacing her with the paint-coated bristles.

"Jake, no—you wouldn't dare."

"Wanna bet?"

I chased her around the room with the brush still in my hand, as she screeched and dodged around all the furniture. I caught her on the third lap, enclosing her in my arms. There was no escape, ha, ha, ha! She gazed into my eyes, catching her breath, and waited for the paint spatter. What a wuss I had become. I just couldn't do it; she was too beautiful. Instead, I felt all mushy inside, and leaned forward, so that our foreheads were touching.

She broke the spell by pushing at my chest, saying, "Get off of me, you big lug,"

I smirked at her. "You sure changed your tune in a hurry. That's not what you said last night. What happened to Please, Jake, please …?"

Bella averted her eyes. "You exaggerate," she adamantly replied.

"Do I? I don't think so, Bells. I have excellent hearing."

Returning her gaze to me, I came unglued staring at those innocent doe eyes. The brush I had been brandishing was dropped to my side.

"Okay, you win. I can't do it," I told her.

She drew back, and cocking her head to one side, whined, "Then, can I have my paintbrush back?"

I handed it to her, and quick as a flash, she decorated my cheek with a blue stripe, and shrieking again ran for her life into the kitchen. Just about that time, Seth came into the house holding Michel who was wailing at the top of his lungs, "Mommy, Mommy …"

Seth threw up his hands. "What the hell are you two doin' in here? Michel heard all the screaming and thought you were beating his mother, Jake."

Oh crap, how come I never thought of that? What must it have sounded like to the poor little tyke?

Bella reached out to her son, beckoning to him. Scooping him up, she explained, "It's okay, Michel. Jake and I were only playing." He continued to sniffle as she twined one arm around my neck and kissed my cheek. "See? Mommy loves Jake."

I had to get my two cents in. "Yeah, Jake loves Mommy too." I leaned in and buzzed her nose.

Rolling his eyes, Seth complained, "I hope you got some actual painting done, 'cuz I've got plans tomorrow that include a girl."

Bella looked at me, and I shrugged my shoulders. "Sorry, Seth, I guess we got a little carried away. I didn't know painting could be this much fun."

"Well, it's probably time for a break anyway, so let's all stop for lunch," Bella offered. She put Michel down, and headed to the bedroom to change out of her blue spatterwear.

We all sat down to some hoagies that my honey made, and after one delicious mouthful, Seth forgave us for acting like a couple of kids. With lunch out of the way, Bella put Michel down for his nap while I took Seth with me and went back to my former home to gather up the rest of my meager belongings.

When I returned to our house, I set the boxes in the bedroom closet. Bella had finished the bathroom and had started on the kitchen. I joined her happily, and then Embry and Quil showed up to finish the job. Their muscles came in handy to move all the furniture into place after all the paint was dry.

Thank god, everything got done, 'cuz I had to work tomorrow—and the next day. I'd be gone from 5:30 A.M. until 6:30 P.M. It was a good thing I loved my job, 'cuz otherwise I'd hafta be pried loose from Bella to get to work. I was already looking forward to the weekend.

Bella's POV:

I woke up to some noise coming from the kitchen. The bed was minus my extremely significant other, so I knew Jacob was up and at 'em already. I guess I'd better start hitting the sack earlier since he was such an early riser. I'm sure he wouldn't mind going to bed with the chickens, especially since this chick was in his proverbial henhouse.

We dove into the day's chore with gusto, his friend Seth watching Michel for us. I really got a workout, with Jacob chasing me around playfully. It was a wonder that we got any painting done, as Seth so acutely pointed out to us.

When Embry and Quil drove up, I made it my job to answer the door. The first words out of my mouth were, "2:12 P.M."

Quil's face lit up, as he and Embry waltzed into the living room. He immediately put out his palm. "Didn't I tell ya', didn't I tell ya? Pay up, Em."

Embry pulled his pockets inside out. "I don't have it on me right this minute, stupid."

Grumbling in disgust, Quil retorted, "Oh man, you don't ever have it on you. Why did you bet me five bucks, if you didn't have it in the first place?"

A grin emerged on Embry's face. "Okay, I see what you're saying. I tell ya what … I'll wager you that I'll have the backup cash the next time we have a bet."

Quil commented as he shoved Embry's shoulder, "Call, you take the cake! Ya' know that?"

"Only if it's German Chocolate," Embry chortled.

"Damn, why do I hang out with you, anyhow?"

Smirking at his friend, Embry answered, "Because you always need to borrow my car."

Quil shrugged, "Oh, right!"

Jacob interrupted their banter. "Quit flappin' your gums; there's work to be done. Now get a move on!"

"Is that any way to treat free labor," Embry groused.

Jacob threw him a paintbrush, in reply.

Jacob had to work the next day, so with him gone so long, I took it upon myself to drive around La Push to familiarize myself with the place. Then I drove out to WSU to pick up my books and supplies for school. My next stop was the Clearwaters' to see if Sue could recommend a babysitter for Michel on the days when Jacob and I were both gone. To my utter surprise, she volunteered. Gosh, it seemed like smooth sailing all the way round, which made me kind of nervous. It was always calm before a storm.

I was so glad when Saturday rolled around. Jacob and I got a chance to chill out—a nice change from the preceding week of hustle and bustle. The peace and quiet was relaxing and since we still hadn't gotten around to buying a TV set, we occupied our time with other entertaining activities.

Michel was already down for the night, and Jacob and I were snuggled together on the couch. I was eating a bedtime snack—a slice of wheat bread coated with Nutella. Jacob leaned in a little closer and pointed to the corner of my lower lip. "You've got a drip of Nutella, there, Bells."

I let my tongue roam around my mouth, trying to lick up the escaping trickle. "Did I get it?" I asked.

"Nope." He seemed amused.

I twirled my tongue in the same area once more. "Now?"

"Nope. Here let me help you." Jacob drew my face a hairbreadth's away from his, and proceeded to remove the persistent drip, licking my mouth for quite a while with his multi-talented tongue. I knew darn well, he had to have gotten it off by now, if it was even there to begin with.

I huffed, "Haven't you gotten it yet?"

"Just makin' sure, honey," he announced gleefully, his eyes dancing in his head. He completed the task at hand by licking and blowing in my ear.

"Down, boy," I chastised him. "We've got a lot to discuss."

"I'm listening," he replied innocently, as he continued to trail his tongue round the shell of my ear.

I clicked my tongue at that comment. "I can't talk with you doing that."

"Well, then how 'bout this?" he asked, as his lips brushed down my throat.

"Not that either," I groaned, trying my darnedest to resist his advances.

"Or this …" His nose nuzzled my jaw. "Or this?"

Holy cow, he moved on to my earlobe, grazing it with his teeth.

I nudged him gently. "C'mon, Jake—stop it. Now be serious," I scolded.

He raised his eyes to mine. "I am being serious—very serious. Anyway, I'm just nibbling on your ear."

"I know," I responded, "and it's driving me crazy."

His face lit up with a wicked grin, and an eyebrow shot up. "Maybe we should take a short break then, huh?" His head jerked sideways, gesturing toward the bedroom.

I looked at him, pleadingly. Okay, in just a few more minutes, I promise."

We continued talking about our plans for the coming week when Jacob suddenly sat up a little straighter. "Hey, I actually have to tell you something too. Tomorrow's the twenty-sixth, isn't it?"

I turned my head in his direction. What was he talking about? "Yeah, so?"

"So, don't make any plans for the afternoon. I have a surprise for you. Sue said she'd come here to babysit. I'll take care of lunch. You just need to dress warmly." He winked at me impishly.

A surprise? I hated surprises! I narrowed my eyes. What was he up to?

Jacob's POV:

Murphy's law—the surprise was on me. I got suckered into being on call, and had to transport some patients from one hospital to another. The shift was over though, so I high-tailed it home to pick up Bella. Sue was already there.

I gave Bella a big bear hug, and a looong lingering kiss. "Okay, Bells," I crooned. "Let's go." I grabbed her hand and started to lead her out the door.

She stopped, trying to pull away from me. "You haven't told me where we're going yet."

"Oh, didn't I tell you? You're goin' on a helicopter ride with me."

Jeez, she turned a lighter shade of pale. I thought by now she would know enough to trust my mad skills. Just goes to show you though—I guess not everyone dreamed of flying off into the wild blue yonder. Maybe I should've brought along a blindfold.