Not long left for this story, folks. I'm thinking two more chapters at the most and then i'm going to concentrate on Baby, Baby for a while. thanks for all the reviews, they're absolutely amazing! Hope you enjoy this chapter.
Two hours into the reception and I had danced with every single member of the pack as well as my dad, Jacob a few times and now I was being swayed gently by Greg.
"I can't believe that in the space of six or so months you went from a perpetually single gal to a married with two children woman." He told me as he spun me under his arm. I giggled, my head giddy from the champagne I had been drinking all night, and shrugged.
"What can I say? I guess it just took the right man."
"And, honey, what a man he is!" Greg chuckled, sending Jacob another lustful look. "Are all his friends taken?"
I laughed loudly, resting my head on Greg's Armani covered shoulder.
"Probably not but I'm pretty sure they're all straight." I watched Greg's face fall into a mock pout.
"The good ones are always straight." He muttered. I laughed again as he dipped me. Greg was one of the best dancers I had ever met. Despite not paying a bit of attention to what he was doing, he was still able to sway, turn and dip me in time to the music.
"Whatever, dude. How many times did the girls in the office drool over your latest one night stand?"
"Yeah, a one night stand!" Greg retorted. "You get to take that hot piece of man home with you every single night! It's unfair is what it is."
"Life is unfair." I reminded him with a chuckle. "You need to get over that."
"Says who?" He stuck his tongue out at me and crossed his eyes and for a few seconds I was laughing so hard that it was only him that was holding me up.
"I missed you, you know. I know we didn't hang out much outside of work but the office has been beyond boring without you being there for me to bother you."
I was silent for a few minutes, letting his words sink in. Even through the champagne haze I could hear what he was saying. He wanted to know if I would be coming back to Los Angeles.
"Greg, I miss you guys too and I even miss LA a little. But La Push is my home now. These guys are my family and I couldn't leave them if I tried, you know? I belong here, with Jacob and the two girls."
"I know, sweetheart, I just figured I would try." He chuckled and wrapped me in a huge hug, swamping my senses with his expensive cologne. I had forgotten what men's cologne smelt like. All the men who surrounded me these days preferred natural odours and if they smelt of anything it was their shower gel or shampoo. I wrinkled my nose at the invasive scent and leaned back a little. Greg gave me a funny look but released me as the song ended. He smiled at me, a little sadly, before leaning down to drop a kiss on my cheek.
"You'd better keep in touch, you hear?"
"Of course I will." I chuckled, feeling tears well up suddenly. "I have to make sure you don't run my company into the ground."
Greg chuckled and hugged me again, before striding towards the make shift bar. I stood in the middle of the dance floor and surveyed the room. Abby and Paul were swaying at the edge of the dance floor, wrapped so tightly around one another that it was difficult to see where Abby ended and Paul began. Jared, Seth, Sam, Emily and Kim sat around a table, talking and laughing over their glasses of champagne. Billy, Sue, Jacob and his two sisters sat around another table, with Leah standing behind her mother's chair, chuckling over something Billy was explaining. I smiled wistfully as I watched Jacob's animated face as he contradicted his father every few seconds. He let out a barking laugh before turning his head slightly and spotting me. The side of his mouth curved up in a perfect half smile as he stood, taking huge steps towards me. I was suddenly engulfed in heat as he wrapped his arms around me, tugging me to where his father and sisters' sat. He reclaimed his seat and settled me on his lap, kissing the exposed skin of my shoulder softly before resting his cheek there. Billy was telling a story about Jacob and Rebecca when they were younger, about them fishing with him and Charlie Swan and I smiled as I relaxed; listening not to the words of the story but to the deep, throaty voice of Billy. As I closed my eyes I could imagine that Jacob was going to be like that one day. Maybe, one day, we would be telling stories about Faye or Mia at their wedding day.
"Lily, come dance with us."
I opened my eyes to see Mia and Jody standing beside me. Neither was looking as clean or as angelic as they had been at the start of the day but the huge smiles on their faces made up for the chocolate over their dresses and their messy hair. I allowed them to pull me up, holding one hand each, and then towards the dance floor, where they had already roped Abby into dancing with them. An old nineties rock song came on and Abby and I exchanged smiles, allowing the kids to lead us in our dances.
I spun Mia under one arm and Haley under the other, before crouching down to spin under their arms. They giggled as they moved to the upbeat song, singing along to the words they knew and making up lines that they didn't. Abby and I slowly danced out way out of the circle to the nearest table and I threw myself onto a chair, slipping my feet out of the cripplingly high heels I was wearing and sliding my legs up onto another chair, groaning in relief.
"My feet are killing me." I bitched as Abby sat facing me, helping herself to the glass of champagne that was sitting on the table.
"I'm not surprised. I don't think I've ever seen you in shoes that high before."
"I don't wear heels very often," I agreed. "I hate sore feet."
Abby chuckled and nodded, rolling her neck slightly with a wince.
"Today was amazing, don't you think?" She asked with a smile. I nodded and smiled at Alice as she approached the table.
"Hey, can I sit here?" She motioned towards the empty chair but Abby stood instead, holding her chair out to Alice with a smile.
"I'm going to find my husband." She assured a protesting Alice before walking off. Alice shrugged and slid into Abby's seat, smiling at me knowingly.
"So, you happy?" It was such a simple question but I could hear the curiosity beneath it. Alice wanted to know what had happened since I had moved to La Push and while part of me wanted to tell her, truthfully, everything a larger part of me told me to keep it between me and my family.
"I am happy." I answered. "I'm deliriously happy today."
Alice smiled tightly and slid her hand towards mine, placing her tanned hand on my pale forearm.
"I'm glad. We were so worried when you just took off with no explanation…"
She was prodding again and I smiled, shrugging. "I just had to get out of Los Angeles. You know how claustrophobic that place can be." Alice nodded in agreement. "And you know I've always thought Mia should move somewhere calmer with the girls." She nodded again and I continued. "My grandmother left me this house in her wake and I decided to come here and live. Try to let the girls live as normal a life as possible. And it turned out La Push was perfect, you know. I met Jacob and everything's been… almost completely perfect since then."
I smiled and took a sip from my glass of champagne as Alice watched me with suspicious eyes.
"You sure?" She asked softly and I chuckled. Alice could read me like a book but I couldn't tell her the truth of what had happened.
"Alice, I can honestly say I have never been happier." I assured her again. "I've never thought of myself as the family type but I guess I am. I love cooking dinner for the girls and Jacob and I loved spending stupid, quality time with them; watching DVDs or going to the movies or to the beach. It's silly, but it's amazing."
Alice smiled and nodded at me. "I'm glad. You know I was so worried about you when you left; I thought something had happened and for weeks is searched for you. Then one day I run into Greg and he tells me you've moved and they can only contact you by phone. It was so random and instead of reassuring me it made me more worried. I thought you'd been kidnapped or something."
She chuckled as she shook her head at herself and I smiled. I had been so caught up in reassuring myself that the friends I spent most of my time with; the fake, artificial people I surrounded myself wouldn't notice I was missing that I forgot my few real friends would notice immediately and I was sorry for that. I could have trusted Alice and Greg and told them where I was going.
"I'm sorry, Alice. I know I should have told you or left an explanation or something." I apologised and she shrugged with an easy smile.
"As long as you're okay and you're happy. That's all that matters." She assured me this time. We sat in silence for a few seconds until a familiar nineties pop song blared over the speakers and we exchanged looks.
"Let's dance." She pulled me from my seat and I followed, bare footed, to the dance floor. Greg met us halfway there and the three of us danced amongst the kids, spinning and singing along through laughter.
The room was almost empty by the time I had finished rounding up Mia and Faye. Emily yawned beside me as she waited on me saying goodbye to them. She and Sam were going to keep them for us while Jacob and I spent a week in Miami for our honeymoon. Jacob and Sam stood by the door, talking in voices too low for us to hear.
"Okay, give me a hug." I told Faye and Mia, opening my arms and letting them fall into them. "I'll see you guys next week, okay? Make sure you're good for Sam and Emily and we'll bring you back some presents."
"Awesome." Faye exclaimed and hugged me again before taking off towards the door. Mia followed suit and I watched the two of them say goodbye to Jacob before wrapping my arms around Emily in a hug.
"Thanks for everything." I told her. She nodded at me, shrugging a shoulder.
"You know it's nothing. Enjoy your honeymoon." I grinned at her and nodded.
"I doubt I'll get to see much of Miami but I will certainly enjoy myself."
Emily laughed loudly as we left the room. Abby and Kim had said they would come back tomorrow and clear everything up for us so that Jacob and I could ready to leave the next day. Sam helped Mia and Faye into the car as Jacob and I watched and the two of them turned to wave at us through the back window.
"Ready to go home, baby?"
I shivered at the husky tone of Jacob's voice and nodded, allowing him to wrap an arm tightly around my shoulder as we walked towards his car slowly.
"Have I mentioned today how much I love you?" He asked as we climbed inside. I smiled and nodded.
"Once or twice."
"Well, third times the charm." He chuckled, lifting my hand to his lips and kissing the knuckles before turning it and kissing the palm. "And I love you, Lily Black."
"I love you too, Jacob Black." I smiled. He held onto my hand, steering carefully with the other through the small streets until we arrived at my house. I could see the guest room lights on and I was reminded that my parents and Amanda were still here.
"You want some tea before heading to bed?" Jacob as me as I unlocked the door and held it open for him to carry in the remainder of the cake. He had swiped it before the rest of the pack realised it was there.
"Please. I'm going to head up and get changed and say goodnight to my mom and dad."
Jacob nodded and worked at fixing me a cup of tea as I watched for a few seconds. In those few seconds that I watched him I couldn't think of any of his flaws, although I knew he had them. All I could see was my wonderful husband, taking care of me yet again. I smiled and headed for the stairs, thanking my lucky stars for the third time that day.