CHAPTER 37
Embry POV:
The best thing about Saturdays is sleeping late. I woke up and looked at the clock and saw it was after 10. I stretched and sat up and rubbed my face. I got up and used the bathroom then I walked out to the kitchen to see if there was any coffee left. I grabbed a cup and poured some coffee into it. I took a sip and heard Mom say, "Good morning, son. Do you think maybe you could go back into your room and put some pants on over your boxers?"
I looked out at her with a smart ass comment on my tongue, but I froze. Sitting there with my mom, was my dad! "Uh, yea. Sorry." My dad just smiled and said, "Hey Embry!" I waved and walked back to my room and closed the door. Shit. I feel like an ass!
I grabbed some clean boxers and some pants and walked to the bathroom to clean up. I showered and dressed, shaved and brushed my teeth. I grabbed a t-shirt from my room, threw it on and walked back out to the living room. They were laughing about something. I walked into the kitchen and picked up an apple and took a bite as I walked to the living room to sit in the chair. Mom and . . . Dad were sitting on the couch.
"Hey Embry! It's good to see you. How are you doing?" Dad said.
I swallowed my bite of apple and said, "Good. Really good. How are you?"
He smiled and said, "Better now, thanks. Got any plans for today?" he asked.
I shrugged and said, "Not really." I took another bite of my apple.
"I thought maybe we could eat lunch with your mom and Leah then do something after, just the two of us. Would that be OK?"
Wow. Just me and him. Am I ready for that? "Um, yea. OK." Mom smiled at me. "I can call Leah. What time should I tell her to come over?"
"Oh anytime is fine, honey. We will probably eat around noon," Mom answered.
"I'll go finish my apple and give her a call," I told them. I got up and went back to my room. I sat down on the bed and dialed Leah's number.
"Hello?"
"Hey, baby. What are you doing today?" I asked as I took another bite of apple.
"Not much. I have a paper for one of my classes due on Wednesday, so I thought I might work on that. But, I can always put that off. Especially for you," she said sweetly.
"Well, I woke up this morning and walked out to the kitchen in my underwear to find my dad sitting in the living room with my mom!" Leah laughed. "Anyway, I am now dressed and he wants you to come over and eat lunch with all of us then he wants to do something after just him and me."
"Wow, Embry. That's great! Sure, I'll come over. What time?"
"Mom said anytime is fine, but we'll probably eat around noon."
"OK. I'll get ready and come right over. See ya soon!"
"OK. Love you," I said.
"Love you, too," she replied then she hung up. I threw the phone down and took the last bite of apple. I hoped Mom was making a lot of lunch because this apple wouldn't hold me very long!
Leah came over about 11:30 and hugged both my mom and dad. It was kind of cool that they all got along so well. She went into the kitchen to help Mom with lunch. She was making tacos, which was one of my favorites! My dad and I were sitting in the living room. I wasn't sure what to talk about. Suddenly, I thought maybe he might like to see picture of me when I was a kid. "Um, I have a photo album with some pictures of me as a kid. Not many, but . . . would you like to see it?"
He smiled and said, "Yes! I really would." I got up and went to the cupboard and took out the black photo album. I sat next to him on the couch and handed it to him. He just held it and stared at it for a minute like it was gold or something. Then he opened it to the first page with my baby pictures. "Look at you!" he said with a smile. "You look a lot like Sam here in this one." He studied each one until he came to the one of Mom holding me. She was so young and pretty in that picture. He was really moved by that picture. He ran his finger gently over it. I thought maybe I should have Leah make a copy so I could give him one.
He finally turned the page and smiled and laughed at pictures of me taking my first steps and riding a tricycle. He enjoyed the school pictures, and of course had to comment on the one with my crooked bangs! We got to the end and he closed it very carefully and held on to it. He looked at me and said, "Thank you, Embry. I really enjoyed looking at those."
"You're welcome," I said as he handed the album to me. "It must be hard for you to know you missed all that stuff."
He smiled and said, "You have no idea how hard. I can't believe I have two grown sons, and I missed so much with both of you. I wish there was some way to make that up to you both."
"There is. Just be with us now," I said.
He smiled. "I'm planning on it," he replied.
"OK, you two. Time to eat," Mom announced. We got up and joined Mom and Leah at the table. We actually had a nice time, eating and talking. Leah and I told them all about getting Seth ready for the dance. They enjoyed that story. Of course, then Leah had to tell them about my reputation with the girls at school. At least she didn't tell them how many girls I made out with! I think my mom would faint if she heard that!
We finished our lunch and Leah got up to help Mom clean up. "You go spend some time with Embry. I'll help Angie clean up," Dad told her. Mom looked at him and beamed. I swear he could do anything and she would smile at him like that. It was kind of sweet, but gross at the same time!
Leah and I sat down on the couch and she leaned over and kissed me on the cheek. "What are you and your dad going to do this afternoon?"
I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't know. He didn't say."
"This is a big day for you two. I'm excited for you!" I rolled my eyes. "Come on! It is. You need to spend some alone time with him to get to know him better. He's a nice guy, Embry. I like him."
I shook my head and laughed. "I'm so glad he gets your stamp of approval. So what are you going to do?"
"I don't know. I guess hang out with your mom," she answered. "Maybe I'll get her to tell me some cute embarrassing stories about you when you were little," she said with a sly smile.
I laughed. "Yea, like she has any. I've always been cool, baby." She smacked me on the arm and said, "Yea, right!"
Just then Dad came over and asked, "So, what should we do this afternoon? Any ideas?"
I shrugged and said, "No. But anything is fine. I don't care."
"Well, I know this probably sounds corny, but when I was a kid, my Grandpa Levi used to take me fishing over at this little lake not far away. I took Sam once when he was little, and now . . . well, I'd like to take you. I mean, only if you want to . . ."
I could feel a big smile spread across my face as I said, "Yea, Dad. I'd really like to go fishing with you." He smiled at me and nodded and said, "Alright, then. Let's go!" He stood up and announced, "Angie, I'm taking our boy fishing!"
Leah looked at me and smiled so big. I pulled her to me and she whispered, "Enjoy today, Embry. You've waited a whole lifetime for it."
I pulled back and kissed her and heard Dad say, "Come on, boy! You can kiss that beautiful girl when we get back. The fish are waiting!" I laughed at that. I couldn't ever imagine picking fishing over making out with a beautiful girl! But, I was doing just that.
I stood up and told him I had to go out to the shed to find my fishing pole. "No need for that. I, um, took the liberty of buying you a new rod and reel and it's in the back of my truck. I guess I was really hoping you'd say yes," he told me sheepishly.
"Well, then let's go!" I said. I turned to Leah and said, "See you later, OK?" She nodded and replied, "Have fun!" I gave her a quick kiss and I turned in time to see my dad do the same with my mom. Still weird.
We left the house and got into the truck to drive to the lake. It wasn't far. Just on the other side of town, about 5 or 6 miles. It was the same lake I used to go to with Billy and Jake when I was a kid. "We'll stop in town and get some bait and some drinks and snacks, OK?" Dad asked.
"Yea, sure." He took off and headed into town. We were quiet for the first few minutes. I guess neither of us were good at starting conversations.
Finally he looked at me and asked, "How many people know about me, Embry? I mean, know that I'm here, that I'm back?"
"Um, I don't know." I had to think about that! "Well, us, of course. And Jake, and he told Billy, but I don't think he told the other elders. Maybe he did, I'm not sure. And the pack, Sam, me, Leah, Seth, Jake, Quil, Jared and Paul. Not sure if they all told their parents or not. We told them to keep it to themselves."
He nodded. "I'm just wondering about going into town. If I'll be recognized. It's been a long time, but there are still people around that knew me then. When I came here before, to see Sam, I always wore a hat and sunglasses and stayed out of sight as much as I could."
"Well if you're worried about that, we can go somewhere else . . ."
"No! I need to get used to it. I'm not hiding anymore. Now that you and Sam know about me, there's no reason to hide anymore. I want us to be a normal family." He looked at me and laughed at that. "Well, as normal as we can be."
I chuckled at that. Normal. Yea, right.
He pulled into the one gas station/convenience store in town. He looked at me and said, "Well, here goes." We got out of the truck and headed inside. "I'll pick up some bait and you work on snacks and drinks. Grab a couple of bottles of water for me." I nodded and headed to the coolers.
I had gathered some water, a bottle of Mt. Dew, and a couple of bags of chips and was heading for the front of the store when I heard Quil's dad's voice. "So, it's true. You're back in town." Oh shit. I made my quickly up to the front and stood by Dad. "Hey, Mr. Atera," I said. I always called him that. It was too confusing having Old Quil, Quil, Sr. and Quil.
"Hey Embry. How ya doing?" he asked me.
"Good. Um, we're going fishing," I said.
He nodded as he looked at my dad. "It's good to see you Quil. I hear our boys are pretty good friends. I'm glad of that," Dad told him.
He nodded and said, "Yea, they are. Embry's a good kid." I smiled shyly at him. "He's done alright," he added. Without you around. I could hear that implication there.
Dad smiled and said, "Yea he has. Well, it's good to see you. I'll be around. Maybe you and Quil can join us next time we go fishing." Dad stuck his hand out. Mr. Atera hesitated, but took it and gave it a shake.
Quil's dad gave me a weird look then said, "Yea, maybe. See ya." He walked out the door.
Dad looked at me and said, "Well, I hope I passed that test. Guess word will get around pretty quick now." I nodded and put all my stuff on the counter so we could pay for it and get out of here. I was suddenly in a hurry to get to the lake.