A/N Taylor's birthday in 2 days, holla.
I didn't own a black suit, but dark gray should suffice.
It actually took me longer to get ready than it did Leah since she's a professional at her appearance and her outfit, makeup, hair and accessories all are premeditated just as they are for when she does a show. She was worried if her dress was too sexual for a funeral, but I tell her the amount of leg she has showing would've made my dad happy.
Once we were at the church, time seemed to move slower. I recognize multiple family members like my cousins on my dad's side, Colin and Brady-they were kinda like Rach and Becca in a way cus they look exactly alike but they weren't twins. A year separated them two. They drooled when they saw Leah on my arm with a 'where-can-I-get-one-of-those' looks on their faces.
Then there's my mom's dad who we called Old Quil after Quil was born. He usually sat in his wheelchair with a thin line as a smile, never speaking. He scares Claire.
I run into another one of my cousins on my dad's side, Jared and he brought his hot ass fiance, Kim, who struck a similar resemblance to Emily. I talked with him for a few minutes before the service started.
The funeral itself was calm and time sped up just a little. The casket was long and black, not brown, which kinda made a chill go down my spine. My father was inside of there. I haven't seen him in months and the closest we've been is the five or so feet between my seat and the alter on which his body lay.
As the pastor preaches, I slickly overlook the room. Four or five criers were expected but I'm not shocked to see no one is. In fact, we all look bored. The only person who really would've cared was Mom and my uncle on Billy's side, who was a no-show.
Not even Embry or Quil were showing any signs of affection. When I look over at them, Embry is slouching while Quil's biting his nails, glancing from the preacher to his hand.
Maybe I wasn't alone in the Billy Black fan club.
Emily and Paul-another cousin on his side- gave quite heartfelt eulogies that made me wanna barf but I didn't so it was time to carry the coffin to the hearse. It was kinda heavy on me and my brother's and cousin's shoulders but we carried it without dropping it.
Now we buried him, and as the coffin was lowered, I began humming disrespectfully. It was till they put the dirt over him did I finally feel time had gone back to normal. Returning back to the mansion was easier now. His demons no longer possessed this house and we were all cleansed of guilt. "Mourners" came back to pay their last few respects at the repass.
Quite a few of our family members were saying sorry for our loss but I saw this as an enlightenment. It took them all a while-outside of Sam, Emily, Claire and Seth- to file out our house but there was one particular guest who I was actually quite happy to see.
Renee-Billy's nurse-was always a good woman to my brothers and I. She was polite and courteous to my father even when he was being a complete ass. She's always been a classic lady and never complained. I gave her mad props cus even after we informed her of what he's done, she still took the job. She's admirable. Her and Sarah were so much alike. I wouldn't have been surprised if they had a romance of their own developing. They were both around the same age so it'd be appropriate.
I found her chilling in his study, reading over some documents. We just needed to have a quick talk before me and Leah take off tomorrow.
I stalk behind her and lean again the threshold. She doesn't move but I know she hears me.
"It was a beautiful service, huh?" She asks.
"I guess."
She notes the hostility in my tone and turns. Her eyes are red, like she's been crying. "Don't get like this, Jacob. Especially today of all days."
"Get like what?"
"Don't act like you don't care. It's written all over your face."
"What is?" I smirk.
"The hurt," she states bluntly.
Ridiculous. "Why should I care if he never did? He was a monster. You know that."
Renee gets a giggle out of my statement. She rubs her eyes and stands. "Shows how much you really knew about him. He loved you and your brothers very much."
My stomach churns with each farther step into the study. "He hated us."
"Not true," she corrects me. "He talked about you guys a lot. You especially."
So he did know I exist. "You're a good liar."
"You didnt see how miserable he was when you weren't around. When you left, it made him ten times meaner than he already was. He wished you were here everyday to tell you he was sorry for all the drama that went down with Sarah and something about ruining your childhood and-"
"That doesn't mean anything." I can't help thinking she was lying. "He never cared, Renee."
She nods for a minute then rolls her brown eyes. "You know you might be right. Cus he definitely wouldn't have left you the house and the money if he didn't care."
Her sarcasm is quickly noticeable.
"Wait, what'd you just say."
She smiles coyly. "Your father, who supposedly didn't care about you, left you the mansion and the money remaining in his account."
I feel a little silly now. "How do you know?"
"A few weeks before he died, we sat down with his lawyer and wrote out his will. The first thing he had written was that this house and his money be left to his youngest son, Jacob Ephraim Black."
Way to make me feel like an ass. "What about Embry or Quil?"
She crosses her arms and sways about, thinking back to a while ago. "Well, Embry got the summer home in Maui and Quil got Sarah's inheritance when she died. You got the most because he felt he did you the most wrong."
"Money and the house won't change anything."
"What the hell do you want the man to do? He's dead. He knew he wouldn't see you before his death so leaving you everything was his way of saying he was sorry."
I've never seen her so frustrated. "I can't take it."
"You don't have a choice."
I bit my lip.
Goddammit.
Renee opened my eyes quite a bit to the situation. I still hated the man but at least I knew he had some sympathy for me. The house and the kinda money my dad had were just the kinda responsibility of growing up I was looking for, right?
Renee gets annoyed with my attitude and pays her respects before leaving the house. She was right but, I hated admitting it.
Once I told Leah, she automatically breaks down and when I ask her what's wrong, she goes on this tangent where she thinks I should stay here and forget the Queens cus this is a huge responsibility and a bunch of other bullshit I wasn't in the mood for hearing. She told me to come for the will in the first place!
She doesn't talk to me for like an hour till we make up and decide to forget the money by-ironically enough-shopping. She wanted to get souvenirs and gifts for the other girls and I just wanted to get out the house. A simple shopping trip turned into a full blown phenomenon when someone mistook her for the rock star hanging in my closet and it took a lot of convincing for fans to see it's not really her. Same situation happened when we went to Universal Studios after we got off every ride and when we went to the Hollywood Walk Of Fame -where she nearly lost it when she saw Marilyn Monroe's star.
She bought clothes, accessories and whole bunch of junk so she was content for the rest of the night. I wish we could've had this type of fun the first time we were here. I heard her talking over the phone to Nessie about this place and she still sounded amazed.
Emily had a favor to ask of me.
I know this because she cooked my favorite meal for dinner, -fried chicken and potato salad- something she did for anybody she needed a favor from. She made it just like Sarah did so it must be important.
"You want me to take Seth back to Washington with me?" I repeat what she's just said to be sure I heard it right. I hand Leah my dirty plate and she puts it in the sink along with her own and Seth's. He and my brothers went out back to shoot hoops.
She sighs. "Only for a little while."
"Why?"
"Cus he's driving me and Sam nuts," she says this as if it should be obvious.
I wiggle my brow. "He's a teenager, what'd you expect?"
She rolls her eyes and turns the faucet on to rinse the dishes of excess food. "He too used to this city boy life. I want to expose him to something different for a while."
"Maybe if you didn't spoil him-"
She groans. "I've been telling Sam that since day one."
He made my skin crawl. "What's Washington gonna do for him?"
She begins putting our plates in the dishwasher. "Something California won't. Please, Jacob? He's your favorite cousin so why not? You're such a good influence."
Leah snickers at that comment but manages to bite her tongue.
It sounded like fun but what about The Queens? How was I to balance work and handle him? I'm not a babysitter. I already had issues enough sharing their affection with Edward but if it's for Emily, I guess I could. Maybe I could get him a job at The Coven or something. Carlisle always had something for someone to do.
I side glance Leah to see if she was thinking the same thing I was. She was actually assisting my aunt by cleaning off the counters. My wifey material radar goes off in my head.
"What about school?"
"Spring break."
"For how long?"
"The rest of this week and half of next. See, that's not too long."
Emily was too nice to say no to. So I nod. "Alright, sure. We're leaving tomorrow."
This little smirk flashes over Leah's face when I say that.
"Ugh," she grunts in relief. "Thank you, Jacob. You're doing me a really big favor."
Letting a sixteen year old boy watch the show the girls put on would be a favor to him more than her. Some good influence I'll be.
By the time the sun sets, Lee and I are both tired so the first thing we do after eating dinner is go upstairs to sleep. I would've loved to have gotten a dip in our pool but there's always next time.
It is my house now, anyway.
Waking up early is never fun but the three of us caught a morning flight back to Washington, resulting in us falling back asleep on the plane. To avoid chaos like yesterday, Lee wore the baggiest, most unflattering clothing she could find of mine and disguised herself. I thought that might raise security suspicion at the airport but we made it to Washington without any problems.
It was like a home away from home away from another home being back at The Coven. We arrived at about eleven in the morning, around the time they're just getting up.
"Where are we?" Seth asked groggily when he and I come in through the front and Leah through the back. His luggage drags behind him as does his feet.
"Can you not read? This is The Coven," I inform him as we enter the main area. He looks around at everything, unimpressed, from the bar to the balcony and stage.
"Who'r The Queens?" he asks and I honestly could take precious hours answering.
"That's not relevant as of right now," I reply and he sets his duffel on the floor next to mine. "We need to talk to Carlisle first."
"Carlisle?"
He follows me as I begin walking towards the secret passageway.
"My boss."
"Boss? You work here?"
"Yup."
"What do you do?"
That's my favorite question cus I love answering it. "I'm the bodyguard."
"For who?"
"The Queens."
He stops and puts his hands up. "Who are The Queens?!"
"You'll find out later. Just c'mon."
I turn the corner at the dressing room and passed the kitchen to his office. Seth's trying to figure out how I did so as my fist gives a light knock on Carlisle's door.
"Why are we here?" He whispers but I ignore him.
"Who is it?" Carlisle's happy voice asks from the other side.
"It's Jacob. There's someone you oughta meet."
A minute passes before he tells us to come in. I push the door open for us.
"Who'd you want me to meet?" he asks as he calculates his first impression of Seth within the first few seconds of seeing him.
"Carlisle, this is my cousin, Seth. He's gonna be staying with me for the next few days and I wanted you two to get a little acquainted since he'll be around for a while."
"Oh. Well nice to meet you," Carlisle puts his hand out politely to him and they shake for a second.
"Likewise," he mumbles. "Can you tell me who The Queens are?"
He chuckles cus it's such a ridiculous question to him. "Jacob hasn't told you?"
"He insisted we see you first."
"I see," he nods and fixes his jacket and tie. "Well, I can show you better than tell you."
Seth bites his lip nervously. "Um. . .okay?"
And that's when they walk in a pair down the hallway towards the kitchen, with me lagging behind. Their conversation sounds like an interesting one cus Carlisle has laughed numerous times at something he's said. This is good, this is progress.
He tells us to wait at the dressing room doors as he disappears inside of them.
"What's in there?"
"Not what. Who."
"Are The Queens in there?"
"They should be."
He leans against the wall. "Why is it better to be shown than told?"
"They're hard to explain."
"Is Leah one of them?"
"She is."
He thinks for a moment. "Carlisle seems cool."
"He is."
The door swings open and Carlisle comes back through it, smiling broadly. He just loves showing off his girls.
Instead of looking at them as they appear one by one, I watch my cousin's reaction.
"Seth, these are The Queens," Carlisle gestures towards them but they're looking at me. I wave and give a subtle smile. They have on their pajamas and gym clothes; they must've been rehearsing.
"Whoa," he whispers, inspecting each one.
"You already know Leah," he pets Leah's head and continues. "This is Rosalie, Bella, Nessie, Rachel, Rebecca, and Alice."
"H-hi," he waves awkwardly and they finally pay him some attention. They greet him in a friendly way-maybe not as friendly as they did me-but he warms up to them enough. Carlisle decides to give him a tour so I can catch up with them.
After they continue on down the hall, I go into their dressing room for a seat only to get a six way hug.
"We were worried about you," Alice explains and they all squeeze.
The moonshine and homey feeling mix together in my gut and I blush. "Aw, why?"
"Cus." Rachel says and releases me. "We didn't know how you were taking it."
"We thought you'd get so depressed that you'd never come back," Bella admits and fixes her hair in Rosie's vanity.
"Never," I promise them. "It's gonna take a little more to get rid of me."
Leah laughs at that. "Don't I know it," she says under her breath when I pass by her to lay on that awkward ass sofa.
"So how was it?" Nessie asks while she looks at her reflection.
"It was alright. I got to see some family so that's cool."
"Speaking of, your cousin is a fucking babe, by the way," Bella states and they all agree with unanimous nods and "yeah."
Hmph. "Well, I'm sure he'll appreciate that."
"Oh, but be warned. He's only sixteen," Leah tells them and they all seem shocked.
"Are you serious?" Alice says in disbelief.
"Yup," she replies and begins to twirl her hair unknowingly. "He's a baby, practically."
"Perfect for Ness, huh?" I say and she pretends not to hear or notice the sudden teasing they give her.
"Yeah, right," she finally retaliates, cheeks on fire.
"Oh, don't act like you didn't see him checking you out," Bella pokes her shoulder.
"He wasn't."
"Sure he was. And you were doing the same."
"We all were."
"Yeah, but you're single."
That's a good point.
"Can we make like dubstep bass and drop it? Let's get back to rehearsal," she tries to sound hearty as she skips back to the dance room but it's obvious she's trying to shield her embarrassment. It's okay to be smitten. I was with them and it's perfect that they get something going. He may only be here for another week but at least they can at least try at something and do some long distance stuff like Alice and Jasper.
The subject is dropped-for now- when we get back into our swing of things and I stay along for their rehearsal. They've recorded a song for the first day of summer and now they were putting together choreography. It's a classic bubble gum pop type song which is a little different from what they usually do but I enjoyed it. Alice was going hard to teach them what she'd come up with and it doesn't dawn on me till now that they're wasted their talent here at The Coven. Yeah, they were great business but as far as talent goes, they needed to be somewhere else.
It's a crazy notion to wonder about. Will The Queens ever get farther than here?
In the midst of rehearsal, Carlisle enters with Seth and I immediately know somethings up by the way they're both grinning from ear to ear. Alice stops the music and once she does, Carlisle begins gushing like a teenage boy.
"There's someone here to see you all."
They all exchange glances. Who else could possibly be here to meet them in one day?
"Who?" Becca finally asks.
"Just come see. Jacob, you too. This is for all of you."
Well, this is peculiar.
We do as told and follow him down the hallway to his office. There's an odd skip in Seth's step as if he's in some kinda rush.
This was setting off so many alarms.
"You guys are gonna lose your minds," Carlisle sounds too excited. "I shit you not."
"Whatever you say, Carlisle," Alice sighs, obviously annoyed from having to stop rehearsal again.
Our squad reaches his office in twenty seconds flat and once he barges through the door, it's easy to see as to why he was eager to get us here.
All our jaws drop, resulting in our saliva quickly being evaporated into the thin air.
Our bodies freeze in shock and disbelief.
Mine gets all these bursts of adrenaline and I can't even look to my left or right to figure out if they were processing that Rolling Stone's Princess of Rock was sitting, as real and beautiful as ever, upon Carlisle's desk.
