Thanks to Imma Vampire & Birdee18 for the Beta work on this chapter!
I especially appreciate those who caught spelling and grammar errors and sent them to me in reviews, it is really tough to catch every little thing. I appreciate when those of you reading help to make my work even better!
Thanks for the extra muse help on this chapter from: BlackBird28, melissaturkey, GryffindorGal87, Imma Vampire, OurSong, Xxtwilight.obsessed.xX, LillyAlice
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No copyright infringement is intended.
Claire turned 16 on the 5th Aug 2019, Quil is still physically 16, but his ID shows that he really turned 29 on 2 Feb 2019.
Chapter 26 The Great Mistletoe Attack of 2019
Claire had been sixteen for over four months now, and we were now in full dating mode. We spent every possible evening and weekend together. We even started to get jokes about being conjoined twins from a few people.
Thanksgiving was spent at Sam and Emily's with what looked like a feast big enough to feed an army. Claire made five pies and ten dozen dinner rolls the day ahead so all the ovens could be used to cook turkeys on Thanksgiving Day. Jacob and I decided to try our luck deep frying a turkey. Apparently the turkey should be completely defrosted and not covered in ice. To make a long story short, we were both glad for werewolf healing powers and that Emily had made us do it in Jacob's driveway at least twenty feet from any structures.
The day after Thanksgiving, Claire, Ariel, Skye, Emily, Sarah, Kim, and Leah went shopping. I had patrol with Leah that evening and heard way more about "Black Friday" sales than I ever wanted to know. Amazingly they woke up at three in the morning to get to Port Angeles for the door-buster sales. Long lines waiting in the dark to save a few dollars didn't sound like that much fun to me, but Claire, at least in Leah's memories, had a great time shopping and having girl time. At one of the stores they had a sale on little artificial sprigs of mistletoe, and all of the women purchased some.
During the patrol, Leah mostly spent her time pondering where she could place her sprigs of mistletoe to get the greatest humor and most embarrassing effects. She seemed to be purposefully hiding something when it came to Claire and the mistletoe. When I asked Leah about it, I saw a flash of what seemed to be a mental picture of more than a dozen of the sprigs of the mistletoe in Claire's basket. Leah quickly replaced that thought with a quick, I'm not her babysitter, why would I be watching what she does? Then she started to mentally catalog all her colors of nail polish. Leah definitely knew something and was hiding it from me.
The following afternoon, I couldn't find Claire, so I went to the Dollhouse and found to my surprise that Claire had added extra rungs in the ladder. I raced up the ladder and found Claire already in the Dollhouse working. She instantly bent over her sewing machine to shield whatever she had been sewing. "Quil!" Claire said, completely startled, "I thought you were on patrol this afternoon! Uh, would you please hand me the fleece throw from the chair?"
"Sure, here you go," I said as I handed it to her. "I had patrol this morning, and I finished about an hour ago."
"Ah, umm, would you please turn around and close your eyes? I don't want you to accidentally see what I'm working on," Claire said.
"Oh, is that my present?" I asked, obediently turning around and closing my eyes.
"No, but you don't exactly have the best track record for keeping secrets from the pack. I'd like to keep this a surprise as long as possible." I heard the rustle of fabric and the click of her turning off the switch on her sewing machine. "Ok, it's safe to turn around and look now," Claire announced.
Claire had stood up from her chair and was walking towards me. Her sewing table was empty with the exception of her sewing machine covered in the fleece. "Starting Christmas projects in November?" I asked her.
"Yeah, I know it's kind of late to start sewing for Christmas, but I think I'll have enough time to get them all finished. If you don't keep interrupting me, that is," she joked with a slight touch on my nose. I moved my head slightly to kiss the tip of her finger, and she giggled. We had become a lot more physically comfortable with each other since her birthday.
"How can I spend my free time away from you?" I asked her as I scooped her up in my arms and swung her around. She squealed with delight before I set her back down. We gazed into each other's eyes for a moment before she asked me to take two steps backwards.
"Perfect, now I can kiss you," she said before grabbing the front of my T-shirt and pulling me in for a kiss.
I enjoyed the kiss, and when she pulled away I questioned, "Why did I need to step backwards for you to kiss me?"
She answered by looking above my head, "Mistletoe," she explained with an adorable grin that showed off her dimples.
Over the next several days and weeks, Claire continued spending every spare moment in the Dollhouse. She was sewing like crazy and had even set up a bell alarm system to make a noise when I was approaching so she could hide her work. "I am determined to surprise everyone this year, and I don't want your pack mind ruining it for me," she kept telling me.
The other thing that happened was that each new day, mistletoe would show up. I had no idea how much mistletoe Claire purchased, but she would put up at least one new sprig in the Dollhouse each day. She also put one in just about every place that we could possibly have a chance of it being over both of our heads. She attached some to the headliner in the inside roof of my truck and in the same spot in her car. She put some over every doorway in both of our houses. By the second week of December, there was hardly a place in the Dollhouse that I could stand without at least being partially under the mistletoe. I tried to mention that it was getting to be a little difficult to be in the Dollhouse with her because the time just seemed to turn into a big make-out session.
"Well, I am trying to sew Christmas presents for the pack in here, and I can't do that if you are around, so if I can't sew, I might as well spend my time kissing you," was her pert reply.
The following week, even more mistletoe appeared, and I spent less time in the Dollhouse and more time in my very cold shower at home. I was coming out of my now regular afternoon cold shower when I got a call on my cell phone.
"Quil, I got them in the mail today!" Embry said as soon as I said hello.
"Are we all set for Saturday? Did you get a baby sitter?" I asked.
"We're all set on our end, and I haven't told Ariel, I just said we needed a babysitter. So Ariel got Kim to watch Irene," Embry confirmed. "Are you sure they are going to go for this?" he asked, a little hesitant still about our plan.
"Dude, they're girls! Claire watches it every year on the TV, so I know she'll love it in person. Plus, don't you remember last year when Claire wanted to watch it, and Ariel said she had been in it? If she's been in it, I'm positive she'll love to go in person as well."
"Yeah, you are right. Hey, I just saw something on these tickets about how to dress. It says that we're supposed to wear a tie. If we should wear a tie, don't you think our girls will have something particular they want to wear? Maybe we should tell them before Saturday," Embry suggested.
"I hadn't thought about that. The last time we went on a date out of town, Ariel dressed up Claire for like an hour, and that was just for pizza and bowling. We should tell them," I agreed.
"Hey, Ariel has been asking for the two of you to come over and make Christmas cookies with us. Maybe the two of you could come over for dinner, we could make cookies, and then we could surprise the girls with the tickets. What do you think?" he asked.
"Sounds good to me, I already patrolled this morning, so I'm free. Claire has been working on preparations for Christmas, but I know she has been missing seeing Irene lately. She has been so busy preparing for Christmas that I don't think she has babysat for anyone all month. Let me give Claire a call really quickly, and I'll call you right back to let you know what she says," I planned.
"Sure thing, I'll be waiting to hear from you," Embry said before he hung up the phone.
I called Claire and talked through the details of dinner and making cookies at Ariel and Embry's. She called her parents for permission and called me back. "Ok, so my dad said I can go under one condition, that I bring home a plate of cookies for him," Claire said with a laugh.
"I'm pretty sure Ariel will be fine with that," I confirmed with a laugh. "Let me just call them and let them know we are planning on going to their place for dinner, and then I'll swing by to pick you up. Are you still at the Dollhouse?"
Claire confirmed that she was at the Dollhouse, and I called Embry back to let him know we were all set and would be there. When we arrived at Embry and Ariel's house, Irene squealed when she saw Claire. "Well, we know who the favorite babysitter is around here," Ariel said with a laugh. "I bet she has missed you. You have been so busy this month we have hardly had a chance to see you!" Ariel then took Claire to the side and in a much lower voice asked, "So, are you almost finished? How much more do you need to do?"
"Yes, I'm almost finished," Claire confirmed. "I am about ninety percent done with making them. I should be finished by the end of the weekend with everything, including the wrapping."
That caught my attention, and I motioned to Embry who nodded. "Uh, you might need to change your weekend plans just a bit," I started, as Embry went to get the tickets. "We have an early Christmas present for the two of you." Embry was taking his time trying to locate where he had hid the tickets, and so I stalled by joking with Claire and Ariel. "You see, we figured that you have permanently imprinted on our hearts, so we want to permanently print you on our bodies."
"Huh?" was Ariel's articulate reply.
"Tattoos. See, there is this place in Port Angeles with a really good tattoo artist. They say if the person comes in, he can capture their personality and ink it in a tattoo. So I figured since I am without a shirt so much, and phasing with a wedding ring is difficult to say the least, that I'd just get a big tattoo right here across my chest with your picture, Claire, and maybe your name underneath." At this point Embry had found the tickets and came up to join in the teasing.
"Yeah, Ariel, I was thinking the same thing, but on my back. Instead of just your face though, I figured I'd have him draw all of you, in silhouette," Embry said, raising his eyebrows suggestively.
The girls just stared at us for a moment before Ariel spoke. "I totally know you're joking, and that you are making this up on the spot."
"What? Why would you say that?" Embry tried to look innocently at her.
"Because," Ariel said, "if someone drew the outline of my body on you somewhere, you'd want to be able to see it all the time. If you are going to get a tattoo to let women know you are married, why don't you get a tattoo of a ring on your left finger?"
Claire whipped her head at me with wide eyes. Obviously she liked that tattoo idea. "Hey, yeah! I know, you can get a tattoo that looks like a ring and that says, 'Claire's husband' around your finger!" She and Ariel gave each other a high five, and Ariel voiced her approval of the idea as well.
"Ok, ok, I'll think about it. But if mine is going to say 'Claire's husband', then you have to marry me first. So I guess that means tattoos are out for this weekend. Darn. Well," I paused, putting my arm around Embry's shoulder. "I guess we'll just have to use these tickets we got then." I turned to Embry and he pulled them out of his back pocket.
"Yup, four tickets for this Saturday," Embry began. "What do these say? I can't quite read them," he teased. I leaned over and acted like I was helping him read them. "Oh, that's right! They say they are for the Saturday matinee of 'The Nutcracker Ballet' in Seattle this weekend."
With that, Ariel and Claire started jumping up and down, clapping and squealing. "See, I told you they'd like it," I told Embry. "That noise, that jumping and screaming…that is girl talk for, 'Dude, that's awesome'!" I joked.
Both our girls came and hugged and kissed us at that point. I was reveling in the silly joy of the evening with Claire's arms wrapped around my neck, and her lips locked on mine when suddenly I felt her tongue lick my lower lip. I totally froze in place. My heart was pounding, and I could barely breathe. This was something Claire hadn't tried before, and here we were at our friends' house, in front of them and their baby! Claire evidently sensed my uneasiness, and gave me a quick peck on the lips before she let go of my neck. She didn't hide or shy away, and she didn't apologize, yet she did sense when I was uncomfortable and stepped back. I looked over to Claire and smiled at her. We had entered a new level of trust in our relationship, trust of physical closeness or intimacy. I could definitely get used to that!
"So, why don't we go into the kitchen and start making these cookies?" Ariel suggested as she picked up Irene and walked into the kitchen to set her in her high chair. "I made sugar cookie dough, it's in the refrigerator and ready to roll out and cut into shapes. Embry, will you please hand me the dough?"
Embry looked into the refrigerator and asked, "Which one is it? I see 5 bowls that look like cookie dough in here."
"Oh, any one of them is fine. They are all the same, I just made enough for both the packs," Ariel told him.
We spent the next little while making cookies together. The girls rolled and cut out the dough and put it on trays. Embry and I were in charge of putting them in and taking them out of the ovens. "It's a good thing you have two ovens, Ariel, I can't imagine you cooking this many cookies with a single oven," I commented after taking out the fourth tray of cookies.
"It has been a huge help! Claire, when you get your house, you need to make sure you have two ovens as well. How much longer will it be until you get your house?" Ariel asked Claire.
"Well, my eighteenth birthday is about twenty months away, so…" Claire shrugged as her voice trailed off. She looked over at me unsure as to what to say to Ariel.
I was in a bit of shock and just bought myself a little time by asking, "Did you want a house right away?"
Claire got a devious smile on her face and answered, "Well, you know how excited my mom is to get her sewing room, and I'm not thrilled with the idea of being a new wife and living with my mother-in-law." Claire paused and winked at me before saying, "And although you made me a very lovely dollhouse when I was little, that isn't the kind of thing you can live in."
"Dude, less than two years, you should start talking to the land office about property and getting plans and permits to build. If you are going to do any of the work yourself, you are going to want the time to get it finished. It's not like you are that Extreme Makeover Home Edition TV show," Embry teased.
I stood there nodding my head until the timer for the cookies woke me out of the daze. I couldn't believe that the time was so close already. Wasn't it just yesterday that Daniel was telling me to stop spoiling Claire and start saving money for a house? I thought.
"Ariel, I think your question broke him," Embry stage whispered, and we all laughed.
The rest of the night just seemed to pass in a blur of cookies, frosting, and excited plans for Saturday's trip. Embry gave Irene enough frosted cookies to guarantee that he would be the one "staying up late and changing all the Technicolor diapers" according to Ariel.
As I dropped Claire off at home that evening, she asked if I was alright. "You seemed really out of it after we started talking about a house. If it's too much for you, we can look into renting or buying an existing house," she assured me.
I took her into my arms, kissed the top of her long, glossy, black hair. "Claire, it's not that it's too much for me, it's more like…" I struggled to think of the best way to say what I was feeling. "From the time you were two, I knew I would need to learn patience, and that I could either enjoy the day and what it held or constantly look forward to a future time. I think so much about the current day that sometimes things that require long-term planning take me by surprise. Tonight, I was mostly caught up in remembering the past fourteen years and looking forward to the next two or three years, and I guess I forgot a bit about today."
I felt Claire laugh against my chest as I held her. After a few moments, she settled down and seemed to be thinking. "I was wondering," she began, "do you think that I could maybe help pick out the house, even though we aren't married yet?"
I swept her up in a big bear hug and kissed her passionately on the lips. I slowly trailed delicate kisses to her ear before answering, "I wouldn't have it any other way." I also knew that before next week, I wanted to buy a book of house plans and add it to the stack of gifts that I would give her next week on Christmas Day.
Saturday arrived, and Claire called me at five in the morning to wake me up. "Hey, my ballet loving wolf girl, how long have you been awake today?"
"Oh, not too long, I slept over here at Ariel's and just got out of the shower a few minutes ago. Now she is doing my hair."
"Is she braiding it?" I asked, hoping that Ariel would be doing my favorite hairstyle for Claire.
"She's braiding it wet…I know you like it wet," she said slowly. I had no idea if she meant it as a double entendre or not, but it sure sounded sexy to me! I was stunned into silence for a minute, and I could hear her giggle on the other end of the line. "Are you up yet?" I heard more giggles.
Claire was about to say something else when I interrupted. "Claire, I think Ariel is being a bad influence on you," I said, only half joking. "I'll get ready and be over there as soon as I can."
"Oh, good, I like it when you are ready," Claire said and burst into another fit of giggles.
"Bye, Claire," I said and hung up the phone. Ariel was definitely being a bad influence on her.
I got ready for the day, and went over to Embry and Ariel's house. I saw Claire and almost gasped for breath. She was wearing a long, red velvety dress with white trim that looked perfect for Christmastime. Ariel had French braided Claire's hair into almost a wreath around the top of her head with some kind of flower or something woven in with it. It looked fantastic and really emphasized her cheekbones. As I went to hug Claire, I realized that it wasn't flowers in her hair, it was mistletoe! "Ariel, are you trying to kill me?" I practically screeched. "First, you give her all those…all those…ideas, and then you help her with the great mistletoe attack of 2019!"
Ariel, Embry, and Claire were practically on the floor laughing at me. Embry was the first one to be able to speak. "Quil, since when did you become a prude?"
I was still riled up and pointed an accusing finger at Claire, "Since there is still twenty months until she is eighteen, and since I promised her and her parents that we wouldn't be having sex before we were married!"
"I'm sorry, Quil, I won't follow the D…the house rules about mistletoe today. I mostly said those things on the phone and had Ariel put these in my hair to see your reaction here. I don't plan on torturing you all day with it, but they are all woven in, and it would ruin my hair to take out the mistletoe. I can't believe your reaction though! 'The great mistletoe attack of 2019!' That is totally hilarious!" Claire said, and they all burst into another round of laughter.
"It's an ear thing, Claire, definitely an ear thing," I said, still a bit frustrated, but starting to be able to appreciate the humor in it, even though it was at my expense.
We laughed and joked all the way to Seattle. The ride seemed to take almost no time at all. We arrived in time to have lunch at a clam place on the pier and head over to the theater for the matinee. Claire was in awe with the experience and couldn't keep the grin off her face. I don't think her dimples faded once throughout the entire experience! At intermission I held her face in my hands and gazed into her eyes. I placed my thumbs gently onto her dimples and whispered in her ear, "I love seeing your dimples; they tell me I'm doing something right." Claire smiled wider, and I kissed her more passionately than was likely appropriate for an audience full of families, although I did hear some young teenage girls near us sigh in a dreamy sort of way. I rested my forehead on hers and used "Mistletoe" as the excuse for my behavior. That got me a little giggle from Claire.
During the last part of the ballet, I mostly watched Claire. I couldn't think of anything more beautiful than the excitement and wonder I saw in her expressive face. We finished the day in Seattle with a short drive around to enjoy the festive lights and windows before heading to Post Angeles for a romantic restaurant and dinner for four.
On the way home from Port Angeles, an oldies song came on the radio "I Can't Fight This Feeling" by REO Speedwagon. It seemed to top the day off perfectly and fit us so well…
I can't fight this
feeling any longer
And yet I'm still afraid to let it flow
What
started out as friendship, has grown stronger
I only wish I had
the strength to let it show
I tell myself that I can't hold
out forever
I said there is no reason for my fear
Cause I
feel so secure when we're together
You give my life direction
You make everything so clear
And even as I wander
I'm
keeping you in sight
You're a candle in the window
On a cold,
dark winter's night
And I'm getting closer than I ever thought I
might
And I can't fight this feeling anymore
I've
forgotten what I started fighting for
It's time to bring this
ship into the shore
And throw away the oars, forever