52. Whirlwind of Introductions
The large hands that assisted me out of the car I soon found were attached to Sam Uley. Once I was balanced on my feet he took my hands in his own and shook them excitedly. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you in person Lina."
"It's a pleasure to meet you too Sam." Sam appeared to be in his thirties now. According to Seth, he and the other older married members of the pack had begun to share leadership responsibilities in an attempt to stretch out times between phasing to allow them to age to a degree in order to keep up with their wives ages.
Sam's wife Emily stood next to him, smiling at me so warmly that it gave me instant comfort. I had seen pictures of Sam and Emily with their family, but pictures did no justice to the sweetness and sincerity that were tucked behind Emily's warm dark eyes. Emily reached over and gave me a long inviting hug. She kept her arm around my shoulder as she led me toward the yard. "It's so nice to meet you Lina. We've all heard so much about you. Did you have a nice trip?"
It was hard not to feel comfortable with Emily. "Yes, the trip was amazing. You guys live in a beautiful part of the country. It's practically intoxicating!"
She laughed, "Good, maybe then some day you and Seth might end up back here when you've seen enough of the rest of the world."
"Maybe." I whispered with a blush. I looked around to find Seth and was relieved to see that he was just a couple of steps behind me talking to Sam and Jake; Nessie, Charlie, and Sue were following behind them. He saw me look back and smiled at me when I caught his eye. Just then we rounded the side of the house and the full force of the festivities in the back yard crashed into my senses. The party in front of me could easily rival an Alice event. I hadn't realized quite how large Charlie and Sue's property was, as the field behind the house stretched for nearly a quarter of a mile back to the tree line. There were lanterns strung back and forth above the lawn up near the house with a couple dozen tables set up underneath and three humongous grills spitting smoke and leaving the mouthwatering scent of roasting pork, beef, and chicken hanging in the air. Beyond the tables was a quasi dance floor with a large stereo blasting dance music so loud you could practically feel the bass beat in your feet. Then further back on the property a large bonfire was burning in a fire circle that was surrounded by a group of children appearing to be stair steps in age from toddler to teenage all roasting hot dogs in the red and gold flames as a few of their parents hovered protectively nearby.
We took a few more steps into the open back yard and were suddenly the center of everyone's attention. A crowd began to form around us as everyone came forward to introduce themselves. Their faces and names were a blur as I was quickly introduced to Jared, his wife Kim and their three kids; Paul, Rachel, who was Jake's sister, and their three kids; Embry, his wife Andrea, and their three kids; I started to get a bit nervous when I noticed that every single one of the older pack members each seemed to have three kids. Not only that but as the kids lined up again in front of the fire it seemed that each year one of the couples would have one kid so that between the four oldest married pack members there were sixteen kids ranging in age from fourteen to four in a nearly perfect set of stair steps from youngest to oldest.
I was especially taken aback when Sam and Emily introduced their children, Levi, Sadie, and Evan. Levi I had been told had just turned fourteen and seemed to have grown and aged quite a bit in the five months since the pictures that Jake had taken from his and Nessie's visit in the summer. Levi looked me in the eye for a long time and then sort of blushed as he reached out to shake my hand and said in little more than a whisper, "You must be Seth's Angel. It's very nice to meet you."
My eyes widened when he called me 'Seth's Angel' knowing that Seth was the only one to ever refer to me as Angel and I glanced quickly toward Seth who nodded and then I returned my gaze to Levi and smiled as warmly as I could manage at him. "It's very nice to meet you Levi. You've grown a lot since the last time I saw pictures of you from this summer."
He smiled and nodded and moved on to go back to the fire, but every once in a while throughout the rest of the night I would notice his gaze on me. Seth later explained that Levi started phasing soon after Jake and Nessie had left and that sometimes the younger pack members who were newer to the whole pack mind thing sometimes developed crushes on some of the other member's imprints. It was kind of hard not to when your mind was constantly inundated with how wonderful and amazing and beautiful the imprint was all day every day.
We slowly made our way through the crowd and ended up out by the bonfire so I could warm myself by the fire. Most of the wives and kids I later found spent most of the night near the bonfire. The temperature was never a problem for the wolves though.
Out by the fire I met Chloe, Brady's wife who was struggling to wrangle their three-year-old twins Brandon and Brooklyn while trying to keep from waking one-year-old Bailey sleeping in her arms. After a few minutes she asked if I would be willing to hold the baby while she chased down the screaming duo, which I was more than happy to oblige. I held the precious baby girl in my arms wrapped in sweet smelling soft blankets. She slept so soundly, not seeming to even notice the chaos and noise around her. After a few minutes she shifted and I was worried she would wake up, but instead she cuddled closer to my chest and moved her thumb up to her mouth and began to suck contentedly. I stared in awe down at the little russet miracle in my arms with her sweet round cheeks and curly black hair and sighed. I had a few fuzzy dreams about having kids some day with Seth, but holding this precious little angel baby in my arms, it seemed like it really could be a reality some day. I reached my free hand up and gently grazed her cheek with my finger and then jumped as I suddenly heard a voice boom from behind me.
"Oh…better be careful Seth. Looks like she's already getting the baby bug!"
I spun quickly to see a face I instantly recognized as Quil Ateara from the Jake's photos standing a few feet away next to his wife Claire, who appeared to be expecting soon herself. Seth, Ness, and Jake were all standing nearby and Seth was looking at me with a tear in his eye, his smile so wide and warm that it made my heart melt. I had a feeling that seeing me holding the baby had the same effects on him as it had me. Just then Chloe came back over and thanked me for holding the baby and took her gracefully back in her arms and headed back up toward the house with both toddlers in tow. I watched them walk away and then got up and walked over to Seth and pulled myself into his chest as he hugged his warm arms around my shoulders and kissed me on the top of my head.
"So, we finally get to meet the long obsessed over Angelina…and the obsession started long before you actually imprinted on her too!" He added elbowing Seth waggling his eyebrows at him suggestively. Seth elbowed him back.
Quil leaned forward then acting as though he were sniffing the air around me. "I don't know how you can ever get used to the vampire stench coming off of her though. She reeks of the whole clan almost as strongly as she would if she were one herself!"
Seth opened his mouth to respond, but I cut him off. "Well Quil, after twelve years of living with them at least I have some excuse, but I think the bigger question here would be why is it that you smell like a sixty year old man who bathes in Old Spice?"
Everyone around us broke into roaring laugher and Quil flushed a little in reaction. It was a well-known and long time joke that Quil indulged far too much in his various bottles of aftershave and cologne that it had led to ongoing teasing that his sense of smell was even less acute than human. He finally recovered after a while when he realized that even Claire was laughing so hard that tears were rolling down her face. He turned to me and smiled nodding slightly, "Okay Lina, you got me. A dig for a dig…Not bad kid, not bad."
The boys returned to their conversations as Claire and I found ourselves being drawn closer to the fire again by the chill of the wind. We sat on a bench and talked a while. I really liked Claire. She was very sweet and down to earth. Quil and Claire's relationship had been one of legend in the pack when Quil had imprinted on her when she was only two years old. He took care of her, being the best older brother type figure for years, the ultimate protector, guardian, and friend. It wasn't until she turned sixteen and they were suddenly the same age physically that they began to have more romantic feelings for one another. They were married last year after she had turned eighteen.
"So, how long before the baby comes?" I asked her excitedly.
"I have three more months left. I can't wait." She said cradling her stomach protectively with a warm glow on her face.
"Do you know what you're having?"
"It's a boy. The first borns of the pack usually are you know…actually Collin was the only one who had a girl first."
"Oh, no, I didn't know that. Um, so do you guys have a name picked out yet?"
"We're still debating. He wants to name him Quil the third and call him Trey. I'm not sure just yet. I would sort of like to name him Nathaniel after my father."
"I like both of those. I'm sure you guys will decide in time." I smiled at her suddenly excited for the future. "I'm so excited for you guys."
She smiled at me warmly, "I'm excited for you too. Seth is such a good guy. You really are lucky and it's just such an amazing thing to be the object of imprinting. You're in for an exceptionally happy future with him."
"I know…I am so lucky." I said staring across the fire at my beautiful Seth. He looked up as if he heard me and smiled then he said something to the rest of the guys he was talking with and walked around the fire to me offering me his hand and pulling me up into his arms as he threw Claire a warm hello. He pulled me a few steps back from the fire, reached down tucking my hair behind my ears and over my shoulders, and then tenderly rubbed my cheeks with his thumbs before reaching down and gently caressing my lips with his own. He reached his arms down around my waist and hugged me close as he whispered, "I love you." into my ear. I whispered, "I love you too." And we held each other swaying gently back and forth in the glow of the firelight for a few minutes.
Our moment was abruptly interrupted by a yell from the house. "Grub's on!" Suddenly there was a stampede of bodies amassing near the tables that held the food up by the house.
Seth grabbed my hand and pulled me toward the house. "We better hurry or there won't be any left for either one of us!" he said with a laugh and I followed willingly joining him in line. We were in line in front of Collin and his wife Lily. They had two beautiful daughters. Daisy was two and Violet was only six months old. We stood and talked in line as we waited. I commented how much I loved the girls being named after flowers and just then little Violet reached for me. Her parents looked surprised and then let her move into my arms.
"She never goes to anybody! I can't believe that she just reached for you like that!" Lily said still in shock as Violet looked up at me and smiled. She reached her chubby little hand up and grabbed my nose and giggled. She started cooing at me and laughing as she grabbed my hair and my chin as we played our way through the line. Her parents just kept watching in amazement as we carried on our own little private conversation. Seth just watched with a warm smile as I thoroughly enjoyed my interaction with the precious little one. I had never gotten any opportunities to interact with babies, so this was all so new and fun for me. I soaked up every moment eagerly.
When we finally reached the front of the line I gave her back to her mother and instantly Violet began to cry reaching for me again. Her mother tried to calm her, but she was inconsolable. Finally I took her back and she was happy again. I shrugged and so did Lily. We adjusted and Seth filled a plate for me as we went through the line and I ate with the sweet baby girl still happily attached to my hip. After I finished eating she got hungry and her mother let me feed her the bottle that she had ready for the hungry baby. After she finished I propped her up on my shoulder as her mother instructed and burped her before she drifted off to sleep cuddled up to my chest. After her mother was adequately convinced that she was fully asleep she took her back from me apologizing for the inconvenience. I told her that it was no inconvenience at all and I actually really enjoyed it. We sat and talked a little bit longer before they decided it was getting late and they needed to get the little ones home. They both told me that they were glad to meet me and hugged me before they loaded up their gear to leave.
Seth put his arm around me and hugged me close, rubbing my arms with his hands to help warm me up. "It was so amazing watching you with those kids tonight. You're such a natural mom…you know that?" he said turning me to face him.
"I'm amazed at how easily it all came to me. I never got to be around babies."
He hugged me close again and kissed my forehead. "You're going to make an absolutely amazing mother some day."
"I hope so." I whispered.
"You will." He whispered back in my ear as he gently kissed my earlobe before nibbling it slightly. He drew his lips back up across my jaw line, pausing to place gentle kisses every few centimeters until reaching my lips. He lingered there gently caressing my lips with his then he pulled back and took my hands pulling me up to stand and leading me out onto the empty dance floor. He pulled my arms around his neck and then slid his hands back down my arms and ribs to my waist and reached behind my back to pull me closer as he leaned down and laid his cheek against mine and swayed gently back and forth to the slow song on the stereo. I closed my eyes and relaxed in his arms. I was vaguely aware that other couples had joined us on the dance floor, but I really didn't pay attention…all I could feel was my Seth's warm strong arms around me.
After a long while he slid back slightly so we were nose to nose looking into each other's eyes. "So what do you think of my world?" he whispered.
"I like it. I feel comfortable here." I whispered back.
"I told you that they would all like you."
I frowned for a second. "Still no Leah though…"
"She's coming, don't worry. She's not a big fan of these things."
"Too hard to be around all of the happy families?"
He looked me in the eye with a sadness there that I hadn't seen before as he nodded solemnly. He hurt for his sister and that made me hurt even more for her too.
"So wait…this isn't the bonfires that Nessie told me about is it? I thought they took place out on the beach."
"Oh no, this is just a barbeque. Don't worry, you'll see the real thing before we leave. They're doing a special bonfire for us on New Year's Eve this year." He said smiling at my attention to detail.
"Cool, I'm excited to hear some of these tribe legends in person!"
He reached down and kissed my lips in appreciation and then pulled me back to dance cheek to cheek again. After a few minutes I pulled back again with more questions.
"Hey Seth…I'm confused." He raised his eyebrows at me waiting for me to continue. "How does the whole pack thing work these days. Nessie and Jake have told me stories in the past about when she was born and you guys split and you and Leah stayed with Jake and then you could only hear your own immediate pack's thoughts and only the leaders could communicate, but now everyone hears your thoughts again, but so can Jake. How does that all work?"
He nodded understanding my confusion. "Well, it's kind of funny, over time we've learned how to work the system and actually I'm still officially part of Jake's pack, so I can still hear Jake and Leah, but I'm sort of a loaner to Sam's pack, so we can all hear each other too. It was a strained compromise that we all made when Jake moved away so that those of us in his pack could still help protect the tribe. Leah was the only one who wasn't part of the loan situation due to her unique situation with Sam."
"So that makes poor Leah even more of an outcast…the only girl, in an impossible situation, not able to be a part of the rest of the pack like everyone else, hasn't imprinted, and can't seem to let her temper go enough to move on with her life." Tears began to well in my eyes and run silently down my cheeks. Seth looked down at me tenderly and kissed them away.
He pulled me so tight against him I could barely breathe and kissed me again and again on the head. "My God, how did I get so lucky? I love you so much. Thank you for caring so much about my sister even though you've never even met her." He placed another kiss on my forehead before touching it to his own. His voice broke a little as he mumbled, "I thank God every day for you." smothering more kisses on my wet cheeks and forehead.
I leaned my head back and moved my hand through the hair at the nape of his neck and leaned on my tip toes to kiss his lips. His lips moved with mine as he pulled me tighter in his arms lifting me off my feet and swaying with me to the music. After a few seconds he put me back down and pulled away with a smile on his face then he looked up toward the bonfire and then back down to me.
"Well, are you ready? Here's your chance to finally meet my big sis. She's here and she's waiting by the bonfire for us."
I hugged him a little tighter around the neck for a second to gather courage and then reached for his hand as he led me toward a bench by the bonfire where his sister sat waiting for us. I was praying in the back of my mind that she would like me. Please let her like me.
Disclaimer: I don't own the Twilight Series or any of Stephenie Meyer's original characters or storylines.
