Thanksgiving crept up on us so quickly. We got back from our honeymoon and then BAM! it was here. It's amazing how quickly time passes sometimes, but other times you're sitting there at one fifty-nine waiting for it to be two o'clock so you can go home from school.
Anyway, we were invited to have Thanksgiving dinner over at Emily and Sam's house with the rest of both of the packs. I felt so bad for Emily, having to cook for over ten starving werewolves. I volunteered to help...but let's just say my cooking skills would only hinder her. I was actually surprised when Leah volunteered to help Emily cook. Leah shrugged, biting into her apple she had gotten from a basket on Emily's table. Leah and I had gotten over there early on Thanksgiving morning to start cooking. It was gonna take all day to make this feast.
"What can I do to help?" I asked, trying not to break anything. I have never been good in a kitchen. I'm the kind of person who breaks pickle jars while trying to open them, drops eggs on the floor, cuts raw chicken on a wooden cutting board, etc. I can cook, oh yes, I can cook. I just can't cook very well.
"Um," Emily looked around, trying to find something. I also keep forgetting that I'm still eighteen and she's older than me by several years. I felt sort of like a little kid. A burden.
Leah stepped up to the plate, tossing me an apple. "Peel some apples for apple pie. Surely you can't screw that up." she smiled, getting up to help Emily too.
I grabbed a peeler and started peeling. I managed to peel about ten apples before I sliced my finger open. No big deal, it's not like Jasper was there or anything, but I had to stop and run in under running water. After that I peeled potatoes. Then I rolled out some pie crusts. Then I got bored and ran outside to call Arisa.
"Hey," I said into my phone when she picked up.
"Hey. What's up?"
"When are you and Embry gonna be over here? I'm dying. You know I can't cook."
"Well, we would've been there a little after eleven if Embry hadn't slept in so late. He was on patrol last night." she said, sighing.
Wait a second. How the hell did Arisa find out about patrols for vampires? How did she find out about werewolves? Did he tell her this soon? "Uh, you know about that? Since when?" I asked.
"Oh, Embry told me about a week ago when I arrived here. Sam came over and we all started talking and then they explained about imprinting and werewolves and vampires and I was like WHOA and then everything was cool."
"Wow. Yeah, sorry I couldn't tell you about it sooner."
"I understand completely. But it is still hard to believe. Now I know why Seth loves you soooooo much. And why he eats like a pig. And now I know that you had sex with a werewolf! Ha ha!" she laughed over the phone.
My cheeks turned red, but I laughed too. "Yeah, and now you're gonna have to deal with that for the rest of your life with Embry."
"The rest of my life?" she asked.
"Unless you plan on leaving someone who loves you unconditionally and you love that same person. I've never seen you so happy with a guy."
Silence. Then, "I guess you're right. It's just all so new. Ya know?"
I laughed. "Yeah, I know."
"I gotta go now," she giggled over the phone and I heard Embry laughing in the background.
I laughed. "Ok, see ya." I hung up, thinking of Seth.
I walked back inside and smelled the turkeys cooking. Emily had two ovens, so that was two turkeys already cooking. The other three would cook after that. Yes, we needed five turkeys. I'd never seen so much poultry in my life.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
"I smell food!" Seth said happily, walking through the front door into Sam and Emily's house.
"I know. I helped peel stuff!" I said proudly, like a little girl, and hugged him. It was chilly outside this time of year, but Seth was still as warm as ever.
Seth was elbowed out of the way by Embry, who was towing Arisa along behind him.
"Arisa!" I said, hugging her too.
"This is awesome!" she said, looking around. "Embry is amazing and werewolves are so cool! Holy shit I'm hyper!" she clapped her hands together and followed Embry into the kitchen, where they proceeded to fawn over each other.
I laughed, and gasped when Seth lifted me up into his arms from behind. "Did you miss me?" he asked, kissing me.
"Of course. I almost froze on the way over here!" I teased, wrapping my arms around his neck.
He carried me over to the couch and sat down, kissing the top of my head. "You look like something is bothering you." he commented.
I gasped. How could he tell after being with me for mere minutes? "What makes you say that?"
He shrugged. "I dunno, but you just seem a bit…off."
I looked down at my hands, feeling sort of stupid. "I think I might be a bit jealous."
"What?" he asked, tilting his head to the side.
"I dunno, it's really stupid and selfish I guess. It's just that I know Arisa is happy with Embry and it makes me jealous. Now she's got a werewolf too who loves her. They're fawning over each other like we used to do. I'm happy for them, but then again, it makes me envious." I said quietly.
He laughed, squeezing me close. "You're funny. Don't worry, I still love you more than Embry could ever love Arisa. I'll make sure of that, because I'm awesome." he laughed. "And even if you are jealous, it's ok. I understand. But don't underestimate me. Even though we're married, we're only eighteen. We can still act like teenagers." he turned my face to his and kissed me fervently, running his hands along my waist. I kissed back until…
"Oh, look at them go!" Embry said from the doorway.
Arisa giggled. "It looks like they're trying to eat each other. Is that how werewolves kiss?"
"Why don't you find out." Embry said, smiling wickedly, taking Arisa into his arms and kissing her. She looked surprised at first, then closed her eyes and kissed him back.
I pouted, looking up at Seth from my spot in his lap.
"Don't feel so bad." he whispered in my ear, making me shiver. "You know how Embry is. Arisa too." he grinned, kissing my neck gently.
I've always heard that true love isn't judged by how many times you make out with someone, or how they look without clothes on, or how much money they have. It's judged by the fact that when they simply kiss the top of your head, you sigh with happiness. Love is when you smile just because your boyfriend looks at you. Love is when you giggle even if he's just holding your hand. Seth loves me more than anything, and I love him back. I love it when he looks at me, when he smiles at me, when he touches me, and everything else in between. So I guess I should be happy. I guess I should remember that Seth treats me the same way Embry does Arisa, but I'm just used to it and it's all new for them.
"Yeah. I'm just being a brat, but I know better." I said, cuddling into his chest. "Just make sure you don't stop loving me like you do now. Never stop." I said softly, tilting my head up to kiss him under his jaw.
"Don't worry, I don't intend to." he said, glancing over at Arisa and Embry, who were still locked together. He rolled his eyes and hollered, "Get a room if you're gonna start hooking up! We don't wanna see you guys flailing around like fish out of water!" he grinned at me, winking.
Embry made a rude hand gesture in our general direction, and after one last kiss, he and Arisa pulled apart. "You're one to talk, since you just got back from a hot, sexy honeymoon." he said sarcastically.
"Hey, we got married first at least." Seth said defensively, grinning. "And at least I don't have rabies or fleas."
"Shut it kid, you're getting a bit full of yourself." Embry said, but his voice was full of humor. I keep forgetting that Embry, Quil, and Jacob are all older than Seth since they all look so grown-up because of the werewolf transformation.
Seth just laughed, shaking beneath me. "Whatever."
A/N: Ok, I am so over trying to get this aging thing straight. I've had some more people point out my mistakes and then I even took the time to go back and read and I have confirmed my own suspicions that I was wrong. Oh God, I was wrong. Bite me. I'm not usually mean about stuff like this, but it's dampening my spirits on this story. Therefore, I'm going to completely erase the aging factor from my mind and pretend that even though Seth's not aging (since he would never give up phasing forever), Alicia won't get depressed and they won't be all sad that she'll die when he won't. If I ever feel like visiting this little detail again, I'll work it into the plot but for right now it's on the backburner. Please excuse my outburst, but school is stressing me out too.
ANYWAY, thanks for reading. I still love you guys.