A/N A happy chapter, finally - and another short chapter for easy reading.

Chapter Twenty-Six – Tulips and Realizations

Alice did a splendid job of having a beautifully, somber and sweet funeral for Leah and Jacob's twins. They decided to call them Harold and William. Their gravesite was on the Quileute Tribe Burial Lands.

Leah healed more normally like a wolf. She was already figuring things out. It didn't take long for Leah to figure things out. She was good at confronting the truth. Probably another reason we got along so well.

Jacob and she grew closer through their loss. I might have thought Leah would go and hide away to mourn, but she didn't this time. She seemed to need Jacob's comfort.

Today I was at the greenhouse with Emmett. It had been nearly a month since they lost the twins, and I was watching how my tulips were growing; showing the little buds, ready to spring forth as beautiful flowers. I'd forgotten to bring Esme back those flowers I promised her, after spying on Jacob and Leah. I owed her flowers badly. And, I wanted to color the outside of the house with tulips, narcissus and some Lillium "stargazers." I'd bought some beautiful decorative pots to place them inside and Emmett was helping me move them, readying them to bring in the house for Esme.

"Emmett, was that the yellow one or the red?"

He looked over two pots that looked exactly the same. "I haven't got x-ray vision."

"Oh shoot. You misplaced the colors."

"I didn't."

"You did."

"I'll peek in the bud."

His finger was already tempting its edges, and I smacked it way. "No! You'll scare it."

"Rose, the flowers don't frighten."

"How do you know?"

Emmett grew frustrated with me. "I'm peeking."

"Your fingers are too big and cold. Here, let me do it."

We both turned; smelling her first, and then hearing her laugh.

Leah was standing at the greenhouse door. "I could hear you two going at it a mile away."

"Hey She-wolf," Emmett greeted, "How you been?"

"Good." Her eyes showed the usual flicker of sadness when she answered how she was doing. Basically, she was keeping it together.

Emmett wiped off the dirt on his hands and then kissed me. "I'll tell you what, why don't I go hang with Jasper and you and Leah figure out what color the flowers are. She has small, warm little hands. The flowers might not get frightened of her."

"Oh shush – making fun of me."

He chuckled. That's what I loved about Emmett – he always understood my quirks. We kissed and he was out the door in a flash.

"I didn't mean to make him leave," Leah said.

"It's fine." I waved her over, "here, come and check the bud on this flower. Just open it really carefully and tell me what color you see."

"Oh… alright."

Leah delicately poked apart the bud on the first flower, peering inside. "This is definitely a red one."

"Good, then this is the yellow one. Thanks."

"Sure."

I tied a red ribbon on the flower pot to make sure I wouldn't forget what color it was. Since the décor in the house was bold with primary colors I wanted to use only primary colored flowers.

I grabbed a towel, wiping off the dirt on my hands. "So, what did you want to talk about?"

"I realized Jake never imprinted with me."

Always so blunt and straightforward with her words, it was another thing I found admirable with Leah. I continued wiping my hands off, as if there was still dirt on them.

"He said it didn't matter," Leah added.

I looked to her, throwing down the towel on my work table, "I agree with him – it doesn't matter."

"You don't understand… if he didn't imprint with me then that means he might imprint with someone. I… I don't want to take the chance."

"What about Jake? Does he want to take the chance?"

"He showed me the engagement ring again and asked if I would accept his proposal and wear it. He said no imprint could negate how much in love with me that he is. He says it felt like imprinting he loves me so much, that the thought of losing me made him sick."

"And… you said no again?"

"I said… I wasn't sure."

Leah found a chair and plopped down. I joined her, sitting in the other chair.

"He sounds very serious and settled," I told her. "It sounds like he's in love with you."

"I know he is."

"Then go for it – throw caution to the wind."

"You don't understand I tried that before and it nearly broke me. I can't take that again."

I looked over my pots, all in a row, searching for a timely metaphor. Gardening brought on wonderful metaphors – all through literature. Many writers were gardeners or bird watchers, those hobbies that lent themselves to pondering and patience.

"I was at quite a quandary earlier about the color of the flowers," I said. "And then you showed up and were able to peek inside and make sure I had the right color. But, what if I placed a pot with a color I didn't choose? Would it have ruined anything? It would have still been a beautiful tulip – each blossom is still a wonder and beautiful, despite the color. Only I wanted the color I wanted. Only I thought it would go best with Esme's home décor.

"The truth is it would have blossomed and if it wasn't the color I chose Esme would have still loved it. She would have loved having such a beautiful flower in her house. And more than likely, if I didn't tell her, she would be none the wiser."

"I'm sure you're trying to tell me something," Leah threw out, sounding as nonplussed as possible.

I laughed. "I'm trying to tell you that you need to be happy with what you have. I'm doing a lousy job of it. I feel like my metaphors are malapropisms."

"Let me know when you start speaking English again."

We both laughed at that.

"I guess what I'm saying is, you keep thinking too much over what will happen. If we live our lives always thinking over what will happen, then we stop enjoying the here and now – what we have now. You have something really special with Jacob right now. Go for it!"

"What if he does reject me later?"

"All relationships have that possibility – imprinting or no imprinting."

"You and Emmett don't."

"Emmett and I are blessed with having met one another, a perfect fit. I think you and Jacob are a perfect fit. You've been through so much already. Why make this so complicated? Take it for what it is and love him. He loves you. Stop trying to question what you think might happen later down the road. You've no idea. None of us do."

She smiled, standing up. "You're right. I'm going to go tell him yes."

"Good. Be sure and tell me all the details afterward."

"I will. You and Alice - we should go out again. We can drive to Port A in my newly renovated car. I'm thinking I won't change into a wolf this time."

I thought over her becoming a wolf, and I asked, "Speaking of which, have you felt like becoming a wolf lately?"

"Carlisle spoke with me. He finally told me now that I'm healed from the mis…miscarriage." She sat back down on the chair. "He explained what happened physiologically."

"I was waiting for you to talk to me about it. Esme told me Carlisle told you about what happened. But it's been a few days and you never mentioned it. I didn't want to breach the subject – worried I might upset you. But I was wondering when you'd talk about it."

"I approached him and figured it out. I knew my body," she took a light breath, "rejected my babies." She stopped talking for a moment.

I placed my hand at the back of her chair, moving closer. I knew it was difficult for her, as she choked, holding back tears.

"Anyway, for some reason, I still haven't changed. I don't know why."

"Maybe a vampire presence will change you."

"I'm around vampires all the time now."

I laughed very lightly, realizing she was around us all the time. And then it dawned on me, "Maybe you haven't changed because you don't feel you need to protect. You've gotten used to us vampires."

"So, I need to find some evil vampires and then I can change?"

"Maybe."

We both laughed at that.

"In that case," Leah said, "Let's go to Seattle. Make a weekend with you and me and Alice. Esme can even join us if she'd like. It will be my bachelorette outing. I bet there are vampires there."

She was serious.

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Within the day Leah visited Jacob, took him to First Beach and told him yes. Even at our home, as I placed the tulips on the tables for Esme, we could hear the howling. Jacob never howled so loudly in his life – and that was before he changed into a wolf to celebrate with his pack. Soon all the wolves who were part of Jacob's pack, were howling in the forest in celebration of Leah saying yes. Seth even came by to ask Jasper and Emmett if they heard the news. How could we not hear it?

It looked like we were going on a weekend getaway to Seattle. The Quileute tribe friends and cousins of Leah would throw a party for her later, but for this next weekend, we vamps were going out with Leah to Seattle. It was good to see her happy.

A/N Schwoo, I have to write a Seattle trip next - girls on the town and then a wedding, and I'm thinking a trip to a castle in Wales for the honeymoon, visiting with Edward and Bella. I'm just wondering when she's going to become a wolf again….

Thanks again for reading and I look forward to your comments in the reviews. ^^