Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight.

I don't mean to drop hints, but we're like 19 reviews away from triple digits. That would be an awesome Christmas gift. Just saying.

Chapter 36

"I don't know what they're putting in the water on the reservation, but whatever it is, they need to bottle it up and give it to your father," my mother spouted while we were cooking breakfast. It was the day after my parents met Seth and Paul and I couldn't help but smile as my mom continued to compliment Seth and Paul. Amber, Kaitlyn, my mother, and I buzzed around the kitchen as we cooked my dad's favorite cinnamon apple pancakes.

"Mom, Daddy is a total hunk. He doesn't need anything to make him hotter," Amber teased. My mother rolled her eyes and smiled. "Your dad is very attractive. He's always been attractive. But, he's getting fat." We all giggled. "Why do you think that I've put him on this diet?" Kaitlyn gasped. "So, this diet isn't for you? It's for Dad?" My mother scoffed at Kaitlyn and turned completely towards her. "Do I look like I need a diet?" We all quickly shook our heads. My mother smiled and turned her attention back towards the stove. Nice save.

"So, it's safe to say that you like them?" I asked, too impatient to wait for her to give up the information. She smiled. "It's safe to say that I am willing to give them a chance. They seem like nice young boys. Their choice of style isn't really all that flattering, but I believe that that can be my own personal little project." I rolled my eyes. I knew how assertive my mom could be when she wanted to improve someone's wardrobe. I was one of her "little projects" before. I came home from school one day and all of my clothes had been hidden away in the attic.

"What do you like the most about them?" Amber asked out of complete curiosity. "Well, Paul's very charming. He has a very nice smile and he completely adores Kaitlyn." My mother looked at Kaitlyn and smiled up at her; Kaitlyn and her damn long ass legs. "I don't know; it's the way he looks at you. Like his whole world revolves around you. It reminds me of how your father used to look at me. He still does sometimes." I smiled at hearing my mom compliment someone like that. I always thought my mom was difficult. She was never pleased or satisfied with anything; and she completely accepted Paul, despite his history. Granted, she didn't know anything beyond his family issues, but she never would. We'd make sure of that.

"I like Seth because he's very sweet. And smart. And he's good for "Baby Doll"," my mother said poking into my side. I fought the giggle that was threatening to bubble out of me. Instead, I turned my attention to flipping a pancake. "Can we change the subject now?" I asked, regretting starting the conversation. "Why, Samantha, is that a blush?" Kaitlyn teased me. "Shut up," I told her, trying to hide my reddening face. "Seth is really cute too, isn't he Baby Doll?" Amber asked, joining in on the fun. "Yeah, I even had a crush on him." I turned to see Melissa coming into the kitchen.

"Really?" my mom, asked me. I nodded my head slowly. "Don't worry, mom. I got over it. He was too old for me anyway." I smiled at Melissa, silently thanking her. She smiled back at me. My mom patted me on the back. "Accept all of these compliments because your father isn't going to be as easy to please." I chanced a look at Kaitlyn to see a huge smile spreading on her face. My dad liked Paul. He wouldn't have a problem. Seth was still an issue.

"As much as I like them, don't you think that you're moving a bit too fast?" my mother asked. I shook my head. "What do you mean?" Kaitlyn asked. "Well, I mean, you two seem so serious. Like, you've been with them for years instead of months. It's just kind of unnerving." I shrugged. I didn't know what to say to that. I could argue that she had no idea what she was talking about. I could say that she had no right to make assumptions about my love life. I didn't do any of that. It wouldn't have helped any. My mother already liked him and that's all that I could be happy for.

"Prom is in a few weeks isn't it, Baby Doll?"I turned towards Kaitlyn and mentally strangled her. She had to bring up PROM in front of my mom. She was crazy obsessed about that type of shit. I remembered all of the fuss she made over Amber during her prom. I did not want to put up with that. I didn't even want to go!

"I don't know because I'm not going."I was focused on the pancakes but I swear that I could hear my mom's head whipping towards me. "What do you mean you're not going?" my mom asked incredulously. I shrugged. "I don't really want to go, Mom." "Why not?" she asked. She sounded like she was in pain.

"It's not my thing. I just don't want to go. I want to stay home." My mom shook her head quickly. "We'll talk about this later." "Mom, there's really not much to talk about." I finally looked at my mom and it had to be the biggest mistake of my life. She had unshed tears in her eyes and a small pout on her face. Fuck. Me.

"I already made you and Kaitlyn dresses. I was going to surprise you with them." She wiped her eyes before looking at me again. "You don't have to go to senior prom. I just ask for this prom. Just one." I could feel my sisters' eyes bearing into me. If I rejected my mom now, I'd get the shit beat out of me.

"Okay." Fuck. My mom started clapping excitedly and gave me a tight hug. "You'll love the dress!" I could only hope that it wasn't pink. "I promise that you won't regret this." Too late. I regretted it.

The doorbell rang and I quickly went to go get it, dying to get away from all of the tension. I opened the door without thinking to ask who was there and was surprised to see Alice Cullen. "Hey, Alice. What's up?" She walked past me, a pout on her face. "Don't 'what's up?' me. How could you not tell me that your mom was in town?" I shrugged. "I thought you'd know before I knew to be honest," I told her honestly. She shook her head. "No excuse. It's common courtesy to let your fashion obsessed friends know when your fashion designer mother decides to come to this dreary little town." With that, she walked past me and into my house. I stood there at the door for a few seconds longer, rubbing my forehead in frustration. It was too early for this shit.

When I got back to the kitchen, my mother was fawning over Alice. "Samantha McDaniels Wilson! Why on Earth didn't you tell me that your friend was a fan of my designs?" she asked me once she noticed my presence. I shrugged. I didn't care, but I wasn't going to tell her that. "I must've forgotten or something." My mother rolled her eyes at me. "How could you forget something so important?" My mother looked at the clothes that I was wearing and shook her head. "Never mind. You don't have to answer that." I rolled my eyes and shot Alice a glare. She smiled back at me and started talking clothes with my mom. I tuned them out until my name was thrown back into the conversation.

"I've been trying to get Samantha to wear my designs since she was Melissa's age. It's so frustrating. But, luckily, she's agreed to wear the prom dress that I've designed for her." I cleared my throat. "Mom, I said that I'd go to prom. I didn't say anything about wearing the dress." Kaitlyn slapped me on the arm and I glared at her. "What?" "Stop being difficult." I rolled my eyes. "Don't worry, Samantha. You'll love it," my mother said trying to console me. I doubted it. I so fucking doubted it.

"Oh, Samantha, I'm just so super excited for prom!" Alice gushed. See, whenever Alice started to talk about fashion, I would usually walk away and leave Bella to the torture or I'd put my headphones in my ears and ignore her. The look that Alice gave me let me know that she was excited about having me sit there and be forced to listen to her fashion ideas and shit. "Please, Alice, tell me more about how excited you are for prom," I said with an extremely bored voice. She smiled and patted my arm. "I will." Apparently, Alice forced herself onto the prom committee and she was just so super excited about the millions of ideas that she had come up with. I knew that she knew how all of the different ideas were going to turn out, what with her gift and all that, and I'm sure that I wasn't smiling in any of them.

Soon, everyone was up after smelling our delicious pancakes. My dad with his chin covered in fuzz and Nate grumbling unintelligibly. They acknowledged Alice with a head nod and she greeted them with her normally bubbly self. Kaitlyn throughout Alice's entire visit was very friendly. I was surprised at that. I knew that Kaitlyn wasn't a big fan of the Cullens. She was actually pretty freaked out and afraid of them, but while Alice was there, she sat and talked to her as if they were long lost friends. I was happy about that.

"How many pancakes do you want?" Amber asked Alice as she was fixing her plate. Alice shook her head and politely declined. "I ate before I came over here." Kaitlyn and I shared knowing glances. "I should be heading back home. Thank you for being so hospitable," Alice said, walking towards the door. I followed her, walking her to her car. "Nice going Alice. Now my mom's going to be complaining about me and my fashion sense all day," I grumbled playfully. Alice's eyes glazed over for a second and then she smiled at me. "Yep." I rolled my eyes. Fuck.

As I walked back into the house, my cell phone started to ring. I quickly answered.

Hello?

Hey.

Seth! Hi.

Hey. My mom wants to meet your parents.

Come again?

I really hope I do soon… but seriously, my mom wants to meet your parents.

Why?

She's Sue Clearwater.

Good point.

Is dinner okay?

Should be. I'll ask.

I walked into the kitchen, my cell pressed up against my face. "Hey. Sue wants us over for dinner. Can we go?" Amber was about to say "yes" before she looked at my parents. "Would you two like to?" My dad shrugged. "Sure. Why not?" My mother didn't smile but she said yes. I knew that my mother had some qualms about Sue. She was jealous of the instantaneous mother-daughter relationship that sprung up between Amber and Sue after she moved here. I felt like my mother would completely change her mind after she got to actually meet and talk to her.

We'll be over at 8.

Good. I fucking miss you.

You saw me yesterday.

But here, I can steal you away for myself.

I felt my face redden and turned away from the penetrating gaze of my father.

I-I-I'll see you later, Seth.

Bye, Baby Doll.

I could hear him chuckling into the receiver before he hung up. Bastard knew what he was doing.

"So, I finally get to meet Sue Clearwater," my mother stated, cutting into her pancakes. "That's lovely." I rolled my eyes at my mom's snide tone. "She's really nice, mom," Kaitlyn defended. "I didn't say that she wasn't." I rolled my eyes and focused on the pancakes in front of me. It was going to be a long ass day.

I went to get ready after I ate my breakfast. I put on a band t-shirt (Coldplay if you must know), a pair of skinny jeans, and my purple chucks because I was feeling super rebellious. I went downstairs to see my mother reading the newspaper and my father watching some sports game. I wasn't sure if it was basketball or football. That should tell you what kind of girl I was. My mom looked at me from her newspaper. She scoffed and I rolled my eyes. She obviously didn't approve of my wardrobe.

"What's wrong, mom?" I asked, annoyance dripping from my tone. "We're going to see your boyfriend's family for Christ's sake. Don't you think that you should wear a dress?" My dad looked away from the television to look at my attire. "That's fine what she's got on." My mother rolled her eyes. "All I'm saying, is that I brought a nice dress all the way from France for you and I think now would be a good time to wear it. I brought heels for you and everything. It would look really nice with the necklace that your grandmother got you for Christmas. And if you could straighten your hair, you'd look just darling."

My head was spinning. I didn't want to wear a dress or heels of straighten my hair. However, that was my mother. She was the type of woman that would nag at me until I did what she wanted. I rolled my eyes and grumbled. "Mary, let the girl be." "You're just saying that because you don't want our daughter to look adorable." My dad's eyebrows knit together. "I just don't see what's wrong with her covering her legs." I rolled my eyes. My parents were unbelievable.

I turned around and started to head back up the stairs. "The dress and heels are in your closet," my mother shouted after me. I continued to grumble as I ascended the stairs. I ran into Amber before I actually made it to my room. "Mom didn't approve of your clothes?" she guessed. "When does she ever?" I muttered. "She means well." I knew that. I knew that she meant well. It didn't make it any less annoying.

I saw the dress in the closet and nearly threw up. It was peach. It was a cute dress, but it was fucking peach. The heels weren't too high, but they were peach too. I wanted to run away as fast as I could. I grumbled again and plugged in my flat iron. I took off my shirt and straightened my hair in my bra and jeans. It was quite a task, but an hour later, my hair was straight as a board. It wouldn't last long, but it would be straight for dinner.

I put my jewelry on after searching for my grandmother's necklace. It was a butterfly pendant and it always seemed to flutter into non-existence. In other words, it was always fucking lost. "Kaitlyn!" I hollered from my room. Seconds later, she came barreling into my room. "What?" "Have you seen my necklace? I can't find it!" Kaitlyn rolled her eyes and walked over to my jewelry box and picked it right out.

"What the fuck? I looked in there… twice." She nodded her head and left my room. I put it on and continued to put on my earrings and bracelet. I hated being a girl. After I had on my jewelry, I took off my skinny jeans and chucks and traded them for a dress and my heels. I put on a little eyeliner and a coat of lip gloss. My mom had to be fucking satisfied with me. I looked like Kaitlyn.

I walked downstairs and saw my parents and Melissa. My mother smiled at me and my father scowled. Melissa only shook her head. She knew how unhappy I was looking like that. "Now, don't you look lovely?" I didn't respond because I knew there was no way that I'd be able to be polite. I sat down at the dining room table and doodled in my notepad as I waited for everyone to get ready. I had definitely gotten ready very early, but I couldn't sit around and not be ready.

When everyone got ready, we all rode in Nate's suburban. Good thing there were enough seats. My parents didn't have a car with them and I totaled my jeep. I was hating that drunk driver more and more. I listened to my iPod and tried to ignore the mindless chatter of my family.

The second we pulled up to the Clearwater's property, I nearly jumped out of the car. Leah ran out and hugged Kaitlyn. Despite everything that had happened, Leah and Kaitlyn were still the best of friends. It was refreshing to see an actual friendship thrive. Sue and Seth followed shortly after.

"Mom and Dad, this is my best friend, Leah," Kaitlyn said excitedly. They exchanged greetings before my mom took notice of Sue. She strutted over to her and I held my breath, hoping to god that my mom wouldn't let her catty jealousy get the better of her. "Hello, I'm Maryelle McDaniels Wilson. I've heard a lot about you, Sue Clearwater. It's very nice to meet you." Thank god. "Likewise," Sue said, a bright smile gracing her face. I looked to Kaitlyn who looked just as relieved as I did.

My family along with Sue and Leah entered the house, leaving Seth and I alone outside. I made it a purpose to avoid Seth's gaze. I didn't know how he'd feel about seeing me like this. I felt very self-conscious and I was sure that my lip gloss was ruined by the bite marks that my teeth inflicted on my lips.

I finally looked at Seth and I saw his eyes glazing over with lust. "Seth?" I questioned. He held up a finger to silence me. "What happened to you?" "My mom," I whispered. "You hate it," I stated. He shook his head. "Not at all. It's not really you, but I like it. I really fucking like it." He took a deep breath to calm himself. "I don't know how I'm going to make it through this dinner." I saw Seth's eyes glaze over with lust and I realized that I had another problem on my hands.

Okay. So I got a suggestion from a review from VballBabe44 to let the parents meet Mrs. Clearwater. What do you think? I think things are going to get a bit more interesting.

REVIEW please? I like when you guys do that!

If we get to one hundred reviews, I will give reviewers a small gift. Just saying… No blackmail just a hint hint shove shove type of deal. Wink wink

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