Chapters from now on aren't like day by day chapters, they will hop over months at a time as going through day by day or weeks with just be too quick for my story line in these chapters, it's more of a really long epilogue but don't worry, it is not ending just yet.
Thank you for the comments, and for reading. You guys are amazing! Don't forget to check out my Paul/oc story, My Clarity, it's getting there slowly but is good!
I smiled as Max hopped around the kitchen, his shorts and naked torso covered in dried blue paint from his bedroom. Jake had moved out two months month ago, the decorating began a few days after and the house was mayhem. When Embry said redecorate I pictured us choosing new paint colours, wall paper, new duvet sets or picture frames but no, when Embry says redecorate he means practically rip the house apart and start again. We had used the money from my things in Hawaii and some of his own savings to do it all and so far the bill was pretty high but one thing we did save on was labour, Embry did it between work and the guys all helped out, even little Max hence why he spent his weekends covered in paint or wall paper glue. No, when Embry said redecorate it meant really redecorate, bath tubs had been ripped out, the sinks were gone too, beds were replaced, the kitchen cabinets were being gutted and even the back door had been kicked down for a new one. The front lawn was a mess, old ripped out materials scattered it and each day one truck would turn up to help take it all too wherever they were taking it but the mounds didn't seem to go, they just grew. Redecorating had a whole different meaning when it came to Embry.
Today was the bedrooms day, the main bathroom was nearly finished as was mine and Embry's, the kitchen was practically empty but Embry was waiting for the materials to arrive and so today, a supposedly peaceful, relaxing Sunday was being spent painting the bedrooms. Max had moved to Seth's old room which was a fair size but not huge, it had taken Embry and Jake all of an hour to paint it with the help of Max who by the looks of him got more paint on him than on the walls. He was having it blue with a superhero theme.
"Embry is painting your bedroom momma, you have to go help" Max chirped as he jumped around sucking on the ice pop Jake had snuck out of the freezer for him as he left, now not only was Max's body blue but his tongue was too.
"I have to go help do I?" I grinned and he nodded excitedly, I had spent my morning downstairs finishing off the living room which was finished minus the new couch which was arriving tomorrow and so my day had been spent placing candles and picture frames in specific places making it more homely, I was addicted to candles.
"Yup, Embry said so"
"Oh well if Embry said so then I better get moving" I replied over dramatically and Max nodded again. "You need to go wash that stuff off before Sam and Emily get here" I flicked his blue chest and he squirmed away from me giggling. He was staying at Sam's tonight, like he had been doing most Sundays. We still hadn't worked out a routine but we hadn't really needed one, he went to Sam's when he wanted to and if they wanted him they only had to ask. It worked for now although I was sure when the baby came along it would need to be more of a routine.
Max ran to the sink and began splashing his body with water as a truck pulled up with a screech outside, Sam was here.
"Quick, run and grab your things" I didn't even need to say it, Max had already gone bounding upstairs screeching to Embry that he was going now although I doubt Embry heard over the loud thudding of his hammer, I had no idea what he was hammering down but he was making a hell of a noise.
"Hey" Sam called out as I met him outside, the path barely visible against the random toilets, wooden doors and old curtain rails that were littering the grass. He glanced around at it before up at the house, Embry's hammer still making a harsh thudding noise. "Why can he not ever just redecorate? He always has to rebuild everything" Sam grumbled with amusement and I shrugged, I agreed. Embry seemed to like knocking things down to rebuild them the exact same way.
"God knows, umm Max has a play date tomorrow after school with that Benjamin kid, I have work until 5:30 so I don't suppose you would be able to pick him up would you?" I glanced up at Sam, my eyes squinting as his large frame failed to hide the beaming sun, he gave a swift nod.
"On Thursday Emily has her scan and we were wondering if Max would be able to come too, he kept going on about seeing the baby when we showed him the last pictures" Sam spoke back in the pleasant tone we had been practicing. It wasn't hard to be ok with him, I had nothing to fight with him about and I had quickly got over my freak out about babies and people moving on with their lives. I nodded back at him, my teeth coming out to scrape my lips as I attempted to push the question out that I knew I should ask but I never did.
"How is Emily?"
It came out in a small voice, obvious I wasn't fully wanting to ask. I had seen her through the last few months but I didn't make a habit of talking to her about her pregnancy, every time I got close to asking I would chicken out, scared that talking about it would just make me miss the things we planned to do whilst one of us was pregnant and never got round to. She was sixth months now; it had been three months since she told us all. Sam watched me for a second, assessing how I was feeling but he seemed to guess I was ok and he let the huge smile cross his face. He was excited.
"She's great, baby is fine and the nursery is coming along just fine. She's doing good, she's getting annoyed with me because I wanna know the gender and she doesn't" He smiled wider and his eyes slid to something behind me. "And this little guy already has names chosen, don't you bud" Sam called out and Max's still blue body came into view and settled beside Sam, his huge duffle bag sliding along the floor with his clothes hanging out of it.
"Yep, I get to choose the name don't I?" He glanced up and Sam and Sam gave a nod at him before shaking his head at me. I could only imagine what names Max had come up with.
"If it's a boy it's Clark, as in Clark Kent the superhero and if it's a girl then Cat after Cat woman" Max beamed again and I had to fight to hide my frown, they were awful names. I did not want to be Sam and Emily explaining to him why they didn't call the kid Clark or Cat. "Will I get to choose yours and Embry's babies name too?" Max suddenly piped up as I went to make a comment to Sam about the names, I couldn't get my words out though.
I stared at the little boy who was watching me waiting for an answer, it went silent around us and even the hammering in the house stopped for a second before the drill began. Mine and Embry's baby? I glanced at Sam and he was staring at me with his mouth open slightly, his eyes darting to my stomach which although was slightly more rounded than it used to be, it wasn't because of a baby it was because of Embry's 3am ice cream binges.
"I'm not umm we aren't having a baby Max" I finally spluttered my words out and Max's eager expression turned to a frown.
"Not right now but Embry said you would one day, it will be soon right? I want lots of little brothers so I can teach them to wrestle and Embry said I could as soon as you have a baby"
I just stared at him. A baby. Embry told him we were having babies. Not happening, we weren't having babies, I was not pushing anymore huge wolf babies out of my body. Not happening.
"Anyway, imma go wait in the car" Max gave me a little wave before turning and skipping toward the old truck, Sam's awkwardly hovering body turned to look before looking back at me.
"Well, good luck with that one" I expected a comment but that was not helping. I shot him a scowl before he turned to leave. "I'll have him home tomorrow after his play date" He called out but I couldn't reply, I was too surprised by Max's words. A baby. Embry said we would have a baby.
I was going to kill him.
I turned back to the house where the drilling was still rocketing off the walls and marched myself upstairs, we had agreed no babies and then he tells Max we were having a fucking baby.
"Embry" I snapped but he didn't hear me, he was too busy bent over in the built in wardrobe drilling at the floor. "Embry" I tried again but all I got was his body twitching. "EMBRY" I screamed this time and he dropped the drill and shot himself upright, smacking his head on the clothes railing as he went.
"Fuck" He whimpered and stumbled out holding the hold of his skull. "What did you do that for?" He groaned as he gave his head a final rub and looked at me frowning.
"You weren't listening"
"I didn't hear you"
"Because you weren't listening"
"Why are you looking at me like that?" He finally saw the scowl I was wearing and he frowned harder obviously oblivious to what he had done wrong. "What did I do now?"
"You told Max I was having a baby"
"No I didn't" He jerked back in confusion and I let out a long huff. "Are you?"
"No Embry, but you told him that we would have babies and now he wants to know when so he can fucking name them after a superhero" I snapped and his frowned face smoothed over in understanding.
"Actually, he asked me if we would have kids like Sam and Emily and I said maybe one day, I didn't tell him we were having one right now"
"Well now he's going to get excited and tell everyone"
"So"
"So? So?" I snapped back and grabbed a paint brush from the paint tray, the beige paint dripping from it as I splashed it against the wall and started painting, I needed something to stop myself fully going at Embry. "Embry"
"What is your problem? I said maybe we would have kids; I'm not planning on fucking impregnating you right now am I? And he knows that and if he tells everyone then so what? They know we are together, it's pretty obvious by now that we aren't just friends Leah"
"Yeah but"
"Calm down, fuck me Leah, we are a couple, couples tend to do things like live together, get married and have kids"
"I know" I tried to argue back as I stroked the paint brush over the wall.
"Then chill the fuck out"
"Stop telling me to calm down, you should have told me he was asking you not just tell him we were having kids besides three months ago you were freaking out over the idea of kids and now you're saying you want them" I span around and my paint brush went spinning too sending a thick slosh of paint all over Embry's shirt. He glanced down at it slowly before back at me.
"Mature Leah, real mature" He wasn't angry, he looked kind of amused and my hand flew to my mouth. I hadn't meant to do that.
"It was an accident"
"Oh so was this" He nodded with me and his hand reached for the tub of paint he was holding, a big handful flying for me and hitting my bare legs and staining my white shorts. Asshole.
"Embry" I jumped back and my foot went flying down into the paint tray. Today was a bad day. He started laughing, his body hunching over as my flip flop got stuck in the paint and my foot squelched over the wooden floorboards. "I hate you" I moaned but all he did was laugh. I lifted my paint brush up again and launched it at him, the paint scraping over his face and neck and his laughter quickly stopped.
"You really want to do this? You know I'll win so you may as well give up now"
I opened my mouth to speak but another load of paint hit me full pelt in the chest stopping me. "You are an ass" I wiped what I could from my lips and Embry's huge dust covered body came swooping for me, his arms pulling at mine until I was pressed against him.
"Say sorry" He gripped me in a wrestling move I had seen him teaching Max and I couldn't move, I wasn't saying sorry it was his fault. "Leah, say sorry for being mean to me" He warned again and I shook my head.
"You sound like a child, besides you were in the wrong" I gasped out as his grip got tighter.
"I was not; you are being oversensitive about every little thing. I said maybe we would get married, is that such a big problem?"
"No, it's not about marriage Embry" I started but stopped realising this conversation although playful and harmless now could easily turn in a matter of a few words. "Don't worry about it, it's nothing, I'm being stupid. But it's not about the marriage comment Embry I said kids, no kids" I fell limp in his arms and he let me go, his body still hovered over mine and a small kiss was placed at the nape of my neck sending warm flurries through my stomach.
"Ok, so let me get this straight, marriage is fine but kids are a no?" He questioned moving back from me. I couldn't answer it straight away, I wasn't sure that was how I felt I just, kids or the idea of kids worried me. I had done it before and ended up alone, Embry was still phasing and it was too risky no matter how in love we were.
I turned to look at him, his hopefully face making my heart melt and I nodded. I wanted us to move forward but how to do it was scary. "I need to wash off" I whispered and he leant in for another kiss before letting me past him, as I walked into the ripped apart bathroom I heard the drill going again and figured my momentary freak out hadn't upset him too much. I grabbed a towel and ran the water over it before scrubbing at my body parts soaked with drying paint, he was such a dick. He may not care about being covered but I do.
It took me ten minutes to get the paint off my skin, it was painful and my skin was red but I smiled as I did it. I liked arguing with Embry, as strange as it sounded but Embry never fully argued, he got angry, he shouted occasionally but more often than not he would turn it into something funny like a mini paint fight. Kids and marriage with Embry, I wanted to be with Embry forever and marriage was something I would do without a second guess but kids seemed a step too far. You could get a divorce, you could fix a broken marriage but you couldn't fix a broken home or heart in a child, you couldn't take their family away and expect it not to hurt them. As much as the wolf thing was a huge part of everyone's lives including mine, it caused massive issues with relationships.
I grabbed a dry towel and patted myself dry, holding it close to my naked body as I walked back out into the silent room to grab my clothes. The drilling had stopped, the hammer hadn't made a reappearance which I was glad about, I hated the hammer.
I stopped dead in my tracks as I exited the bathroom, my eyes falling on Embry as he leant against the wall, his smile turning up into a cheeky grin that stole my heart into a series of excited beats. His eyes shifted from me and to the wall beside him, making me focus on the paint that stood out against the white walls.
Will you marry me, Leah Loo?
I read it about fifty times before the words actually made sense to me, my eyes darted back to Embry and his smile grew before he pulled out a box from his pocket.
"I had planned something slightly more romantic for tonight but as usual Leah Clearwater, you have to freak out and plans change so here, I'll do it right here in our home right now" He strode across to where I stood clutching the towel to my body, I heard him perfectly but my brain wasn't registering what was happening. I looked from him to wall and back again, none of it helping clear the cloud of words and thoughts hitting me all at once. He stopped in front of me, one hand reaching for mine while the other held out the box. My breath came exploding back and my body heaved in a long gasp of air as I realised what he was doing.
"Are you" I stopped not knowing how to ask and he again smiled.
"Madly in love with you? Yes, even if you do freak out over the tiniest things and throw my plans into shit. It's nothing special but I love you and I want us to be a real family, minus the extra kids" He paused and a smile twitched at my lips I couldn't get it all out though. "So, will you marry me?"
"Yes" I breathed out without even having to think about it, I didn't need to. Now I was registering what was happening and what he was saying I didn't need to think anymore, this had been the strangest twenty minutes of my life.
"Really?" He seemed shocked as he asked and I watched his eyebrows shoot up in surprise. "Even after that baby thing"
"No babies, but I will marry you Embry Call, I would marry you tomorrow if it meant you were mine forever"
"I'm yours forever with or without this ring, don't ever worry about that" He whispered back and my eyes darted to the unopened box, my breathing had become heavy and I could feel my chest heaving in and out. This was a moment I had never imagined myself to be in, I always thought love was stupid and not for me but right now I was swimming in it and I refused to let it end. "It's not much" Embry mumbled as he let go of my hand and opened the box, my weak breath stopping all over again as I saw the most beautiful ring I had ever seen laying on the white cushion.
It was a silver band with the most beautiful white diamond pattern dancing over it until it reached a solid white sparkling diamond that in my opinion was huge, it was beautiful.
"If you don't like it then we could change it"
"Embry, I love it" I whispered out not quite able to regain my composure, he was perfect. He was the perfect guy. "I love you" I went on as my heart beat kicked back to its unstoppable beating and Embry stepped back a little, his eyes assessing my whole face.
"So you will marry me?"
I nodded, I couldn't speak I just nodded and the world around me seemed to stop as I focused in on the guy in front of me. He took my left hand in his and slid the ring over my ring finger, it fit perfectly. I fit perfectly here with him. I was getting married. As the ring slid into place and Embry's arms came to grab for me I realised what happened, I was getting married.
